Sister Wives star Christine Brown raised some eyebrows and quite a few concerns recently when she pleaded with fans to purchase from her online clothing store in order to help her raise funds for one of her children to have surgery.
Christine— who is the third wife of Kody Brown and the mother of six of his 18 kids— made the surgery comments on her Lularoe Facebook page last week, informing her more than 30,000 group members that their buying leggings and other assorted stretchy clothing from her was helping her “get something done.”
That “something” turned out to be raising money to pay for a surgery for one of her daughters.
“What you guys are doing, by helping me so much with your purchases, are helping me get something done,” Christine said during the Live session. “I can’t go into tons of information, but one of my daughters needs a surgery and I need $50,000 for a down payment for the surgery, and you guys are making it happen.”
“$50,000 for a down [payment] was so daunting, so I decided to just work hard,” she added. “Just work really, really, really hard and we’re like halfway there…I can’t thank you enough for all your purchases and you helping my family, and my daughter. I can’t say [which one] is getting the surgery!”
She went on to say the surgery would be covered on the next season of ‘Sister Wives’ and while she didn’t reveal the name of the child undergoing the surgery, she did note that the child’s health issues have been discussed on the show in the past.
“I wish I could tell you more, but I signed a non-confidentiality,” Christine said. (She probably means a “confidentiality agreement,” otherwise known as a non-disclosure agreement.)
“There’s things that I can’t talk about, but thanks, it means a lot to me,” Christine said.
Longtime fans of the show were quick to assume Christine was referring to her teenage daughter Ysabel and a possible surgery for her scoliosis, which she previously wore a brace for on the show. Her scoliosis has been discussed over multiple seasons of ‘Sister Wives.’
On Instagram, a fan of the show asked Ysabel if she has undergone spinal surgery yet to correct her scoliosis, to which she confirmed she had not. Ysabel encouraged the fan to stay tuned to the show next season for updates.
While Christine seems to be pushing the sale of her leggings to fund Ysabel’s surgery, some questioned why Ysabel’s other parent, Kody, doesn’t appear to be coughing up the funds to help his daughter.
Aside from the money the family pulls in from the TLC show, they also have quite a few cars and homes (both rented and owned), not to mention, Kody’s beloved Coyote Pass Property… which makes it appear that the family could easy swing $50,000 for surgery.
However, back in April 2019, it was revealed that Kody & Co. owed thousands in taxes for their Arizona properties. The family also discussed their financial issues on ‘Sister Wives’ last season.
(Photos: TLC; Instagram)
24 Responses
And you don’t buy or rent what you cannot afford! I have never seen such nitwits in my life. They need to change the name of the show from “Sister Wives” to “5 Nitwits”. Meri lives in a huge rental plus has a mortgage on her B and B. Robyn has a mortgage on her huge house. Christine has a mortgage. Janelle has rent. They all owe taxes and have a mortgage on the land they got. Now a daughter needs a very expensive surgery and they ask us to pay for it. Give me a break. They all need to downsize when it comes to housing. Stop the over the top weddings. And Kody needs to get a job! Maybe 2 jobs. Whatever it takes. Let’s face it. Another bankruptcy is the works. get these nitwits off TV They make me sick.
I am sorry that the Brown’s are in such terrible financial straits but it is also obvious that none of them have any idea that they put themselves where they are. Why those women stay with Kody is beyond my understanding. he is so dumb when it comes to money issues. They had 4 houses in Las Vegas which they obviously had 4 mortgages on. Kody decided to uproot the families to Flagstaff which is not an inexpensive place to live. The houses in Vegas sold after dropping the prices several times, having to put up fences between the houses and the idiot buys a huge parcel of land and comes up with an idea to build a huge house that they all can live in. In the meantime they buy 2 houses in Flagstaff and 2 rentals. After finally selling the Vegas houses they now have a huge mortgage on Robyn’s house, a mortgage on Christine’s house, a huge mortgage on the land and 2 rentals to pay for. What were they thinking? Obviously they do not think. Kody is beyond ignorant and the women even worse. Get those people off TV. I am sorry that the daughter has a major surgery coming up but since when do we the public pay for it. Yes the hospital wants a %50,000 down payment. Duh. How many times have the Brown’s filed for bankruptcy? They try to make us believe polygamy is such a wonderful way to live. Ha! You don’t have kids you cannot afford to raise. You don’t have over the top weddings you cannot afford. And you certainly don’t put up with a man like Kody who is not a man! The women don’t need over the top houses either. 5 so called adults who just do not get it.
Talk about negligent parents. I have scoliosis and had surgery at age 12. You are supposed to have the surgery before puberty takes off and your growth spurt happens in order for the surgery to be a success. What selfish stupid people. Disgusting.
That is not what all doctors and information say. I have read there’s much debate about what is better.
Luckily my daughter’s scoliosis got better with a night brace but it’s progressing again without one (not over 25% curve yet so no new back brace yet).
Oh puhlease! You have health insurance right??? Pay your own damn bills. How about not building an 18 room mansion to house your oversized family and just live a sustainable lifestyle? My last hospital stay was 250k but I paid roughly 2k in bills thanks to insurance. I don’t like the large chunk of money it takes out of my paycheck but when you really need it, then it is a very good thing. It is not like they are paupers.
REALLY?// maybe instead of that big house, they should have thought about the future and the surgery. I am sure they knew that was coming.
She has NEEDED that surgery for years. Christine bought a house to not give up her dogs. But couldn’t live in a rental to save money for her daughter’s surgery? GROSS.
[* Shield plugin marked this comment as “Trash”. Reason: Failed Bot Test (expired) *]
I’m sorry but, what nerve do these reality people have, in asking fans for money. While all of them are buying and renting land and houses for each wife. Not to mention, all of these houses are $700,000 -900,000 + a piece. I’m sorry but, the wives with no children or,young children living at home, get an apartment or regular size home like the rest of th. Then you’re gonna ask the average working stiff, fora hand out the pay for a surgery. Are you freaking kidding me? As if you’re gonna pay cash for this. Everyone has to have health insurance in America and, you want us to believe you don’t, please. Do away with these reality shows once and for all. Just because you married people and cameras record you, you should all live the life of luxury? For what? You’re not famous prior to all this reality crap. You’re not anyone special or, different than any other family. Instead, you sit around rich and entitled for nothing. You chose this lifestyle and to have all these children. So get off your lazy asses and get a real job. Working a 9-5 and actually earninga living and pay your own expenses like the rest of the world. Instead of expecting people to throw a windfall of money in your laps. All because a camera follows your boring ass lives. It’s that simple? Any random person living a regular life, should have the chance for a camera follows them and, then their rich and famous. Please stop! You should be ashamed of yourself Christine, asking fora handout and playing the whoa is me card. C’mon people, wake up! You don’t have the ability to take care of your own children’s medical unless the public pays for it? Maybe somebody should call child services on you for not providing medical care for your child. It’s insanity! Meri, a person alone, needs to be in a 5 bedroom home? Janelle with no young kids living at home needs a huge house, etc. Get an apartment or regular sized homes. On the rare occasion the whole family joins for a holiday, rent a hall. Your not even a true paligamist family, under one roof. The nerve to live as single women in individual homes with an occasional visit from Kody. Who may as well be a long haul trucker or traveling salesman. Spending tons of money in the expensive homes, separate utilities, etc. Shameful! Support yourselves for the life you chose and stop expecting all of us the pick up the tab¡!!!!
Kody Brown always has an excuse for what doesn’t care about but if it’s something he would make sure it happens… Ladies if you saw your Best friend go through all this what advise would you give her or maybe your daughter..
Typical Brown behavior— “The Lord will provide”. Then make a post indirectly, yet directly, asking for money, prayers, support, or purchasing their LuLu ugly attire. GET A JOB. What are you doing with the TLC money? Sell a house… sell the land. Or part of it. Take care of your children.
There are 5 able-bodied, yet totally lazy, adults (sans Janelle). Who in their right mind has 1 child, let alone 19, and not have each them covered by insurance? Particularly, when they have known for some time that one of them has a chronic condition that would lead to surgery at some point.
$50k for a down payment on surgery? How is this possible? How do these people have health insurance anyway (if they do)? Is it possible that they have Medicaid? I don’t understand any of this! Don’t get me wrong, I understand how much surgeries cost. My tonsillectomy was over $20,000, but with insurance it was brought down to a cost affordable over a payment plan. I feel like there have to be other options for Christine rather than straight up asking for $50k for a down payment.
I thought the exact same thing. We have health insurance and a maximum out of pocket which is well below $50,000. Do they not have any health insurance? Or did they do one of those minimum monthly premium plans with astronomical out of pocket fees if the insurance is used?
However, I also remember Kody saying when Maddie had an emergency appendectomy in Utah that it took them years to pay, I believe. So this family may make it a habit to have inadequate medical coverage.
If a person does not have health insurance, they have to pay so much up front for any (non-emergency) surgery.
A friend of mine was diagnosed with a brain tumor a few years ago, and she did not have insurance. She had to pay $65,000 before they would even put her on the schedule. We had fundraisers to help them come up with some of the money, and in the end, they took out a second mortgage on their house to pay the rest. She and her husband own a small business, and she always said before that it just wasn’t practical for them to fork out thousands of dollars in premiums, when they could pay cash for preventative care, or the occasional ER visit. They’ve since sought out some low cost insurance. Health care costs in this country are absolutely ridiculous.
MIDNIGHT RAVIOLI- Thanks for the explanation. That helps make sense why the Browns are doing this then.
I bet in Utah they had all or nearly all the kids on medicaid, but now they make too much money to qualify, so they either need to pay for their own coverage or mismanage their money and go without insurance and end up in this very situation. Unless they qualify for a special enrollment period, they can’t buy coverage through the marketplace/obamacare until next year, so if a surgery is needed before then, they need to pay out of pocket.
I hope Ysabel doesn’t feel guilty or responsible for this financial mess. And again with the name. Why couldn’t they add an “e” after the Y? The name looks like a typo or a series of letters accidentally typed. It’s like, hi my name is Jnnifer or Mchelle.
Universal healthcare is really great.
What is that supposed to mean?
Maybe they should try Shriners hospital of it is for scoliosis. That’s what we did for my daughter.
Why isn’t Cody helping to raise the money needed? I think all the wives should leave him. He doesn’t give a crap about them or his children. Only cares about himself.
The idea that you would need to work two or three jobs to provide healthcare for your kids is insane. America needs to get it together.
How does this have any downvotes? Not taking care of each other and having universal healthcare is completely stupid.
As an European I’m always shocked to read stories like these. Also amazed to see all those downvotes.
First of all, didn’t Christine just purchase an $800,000 house? Kind of knew your daughter had issues prior to that purchase. Secondly, I realize the show is often taped in advance. But, she is saying presently that she needs the $50,000 down before the surgery for her daughter, right? So, how then can she say the surgery will be featured on the next season of sister wives if she can’t pay for it? Last, how about get a real job? Get two jobs? Maybe even three! That’s what I had to do when one of my kids needed surgery to cover the copay and I was a single mother! You are in a “family” of five grown ass adults.
If the show is going to make the surgery a storyline then make the show pay upfront for the surgery. The Browns are terrible business people and negotiators. That’s why they own millions of dollars worth if cars and real estate but have to resort to using a gofundme for medical care like thr avg middle class person.