As she worked through that trauma, "I don't think that any of them thought I was wrong, necessarily, for having feelings and emotions," she added of her then-sister wives. "But I don't know how empathetic they were with it."
And while that certainly topped her list of emotional struggles during her three-decade marriage to Kody, there were other less-than-pleasant moments.
"Kody and Janelle fail to recognize that possibly some of the issues that I had in polygamy could have stemmed from the fact that, oh, they wanted to get married on my birthday," Meri revealed of the couple's planned Jan. 16, 1993 wedding day.
Though Kody's mom eventually intervened, pushing the nuptials back four days, initially, "They were like, 'It doesn't matter. We'll just celebrate it a different day,'" Meri recalled. "Like, excuse me. It does matter"
And, yes, she had some feelings about Janelle making the transition from sister-in-law to sister wife following her two-year marriage to Meri's brother Adam Barber.
"I had emotions," Meri acknowledged, "and I was the one who is in trouble for having these emotions."
Because, as a devout polygamist, "We're supposed to endure to the end," she explained. "And we're supposed to live this way because this is what's going to, you know, we're going to gain salvation from it."
Instead, Meri saved herself, announcing the end of her and Kody's union in 2022. And now, she shared, "I'm done being walked all over by him. And I don't think he knows what to do with that."
Though he may want to buckle in as Meri continues to find her voice. Check out all the revelations she and her former sister wives have shared on the TLC series this season.
Curated by Jasmine Lee
