Christine Brown Woolley Exposes the Dark Truth of Polygamy — Why She Finally Walked Away
Christine Woolley always knew she wanted to be in a plural marriage. She grew up in a fundamentalist Mormon community, loved having two moms and several grandmothers, and wanted to raise her own children in that environment.
As an adult, and after Woolley married a man with two other wives, her family decided to share their lives on the TLC show “Sister Wives.”
Woolley stayed in the relationship for 25 years, with much of it televised, but slowly she realized she needed to leave and go out on her own.
On this episode of “Modern Love,” Woolley discusses what she loved about her upbringing, the joys and pitfalls of a shared marriage, and what she’s learned from her first monogamous relationship.
Here’s how to submit a Modern Love essay to The New York Times.
Here’s how to submit a Tiny Love Story.
Unlock full access to New York Times podcasts and explore everything from politics to pop culture. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
Links to transcripts of episodes generally appear on these pages within a week.
“Modern Love” is hosted by Anna Martin and produced by Reva Goldberg, Emily Lang, Davis Land, Amy Pearl and Sara Curtis. The show is edited by Lynn Levy, Davis Land and Jen Poyant, our executive producer.
Production management is by Christina Djossa. The show is mixed by Efim Shapiro and recorded by Nick Pitman.
It features original music by Pat McCusker, Dan Powell, Rowan Niemisto and Diane Wong. Our theme music is by Dan Powell.
Special thanks to Daniel Jones, Miya Lee, Larissa Anderson, Dahlia Haddad, Lisa Tobin, Brooke Minters, Felice León, Dave Mayers, Eddie Costas, Sawyer Roque, Sophie Erickson, Mariya Abdulkaf, Mark Zemel, Pat Gunther, Mahima Chablani, Jeffrey Miranda, Isabella Anderson, Christine Nguyen, Reyna Desai, Jordan Cohen, Victoria Kim, Nina Lassam and Julia Simon.






