Abel and his four wives at Menna and Abel’s wedding (Picture: Mediadrumimages/MennaMorrison)
Menna Barlow Morrison, 22, lives at Rockland Ranch, Utah, USA, with her husband Abel Morrison, 42, his three other wives and their 15 children.
Menna, a mail carrier originally from Arizona, grew up in a polygamist family with three wives and 40 children, and started a relationship with Abel when she was just 18 years old.
The pair – who share a son, Oliver, born in April 2022 – met through their religious community and married a year and a half later.
The family came to fame in the documentary ‘Three Wives, One Husband’ which aired on Channel 4, TLC, and Netflix. However, it did not feature Menna because she and Abel were not yet married.
Rockland Ranch is a fundamentalist Mormon community that was founded in 1977 to allow its members to practise their religion – which includes polygamous marriage – freely.
Mormon Fundamentalism is an off-branch of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS), but encompasses principles and practises that are no longer held by the LDS church.
Menna with her sister-wives Suzie, Beth, and Marina (Picture: Mediadrumimages/MennaMorrison)
One of the main tenets of Fundamentalist Mormon belief is that plural marriage will help them to reach the highest level of Heaven.
Menna says she has faced many challenges in her marriage, most notably having to share her husband with three other women.
In addition to this, she has also faced much criticism from others who have called her ‘stupid’ and ‘brainwashed.’
And although she wouldn’t change her family for the world, Menna acknowledges a plural marriage is not easy.
‘The greatest challenge is the most obvious which is sharing your husband,’ she explained. ‘It’s hard to know that you’re not the only woman in his life.
Caption: Menna and Abel (Picture: Mediadrumimages/MennaMorrison)
Menna continued: ‘I’d say my biggest struggle, more specifically, is that he’s my best friend and I can’t just hang out with him all the time or whenever I want. I have to wait my turn to have his company and attention.
‘I’ve obviously never experienced losing time as other wives have, but I can only imagine. I often sit there and think about how they lost time with their spouse each time he got married again, and how that would be very difficult to go through.’
Despite this, Menna finds great joy in her marriage.
‘Life would definitely be easier with no sister-wives, but I know that this is what Heavenly Father requires,’ she said.
‘Without plural marriage, I wouldn’t have my baby boy Oliver. And I never could’ve married Abel, who has been a huge blessing to me. He does an excellent job of caring for his family.’
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Menna wants to rid people of some of the preconceived held about polyamorous marriages.
She said: ‘Some think we’re forced into this way of living which is not true. No one in our circles is forced into plural marriage.
‘I wish more people understood that we choose to live this way, and we are happy. We try and overcome our humanly struggles, learn to share, and have many children.
‘Every plural marriage in our public fundamentalist circles is consensual.’
Menna says her life is a choice (Picture: Mediadrumimages/MennaMorrison)
The mum has also lost friends because of her choice to live in plural marriage.
Menna said: ‘I have some friends that don’t approve and it’s made things awkward. I’ve noticed that my relationships with those people are pretty much broken.
‘I still have a few relationships with family and friends who believe differently and are still extremely supportive of the way I live because they’re huge advocates of personal choice and free will.’
Through sharing her experiences on TikTok, however, she’s found a 13,000-strong support group among her followers.
‘Up to now, I’ve been private about things,’ Menna added.
‘I’ve been contacted before about interviews and such because I’m Abel Morrison’s fourth wife, but I turned them down.
‘But as I thought about it, I realised that my husband is one Google search away and that is not private at all.’
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People have called her ‘brainwashed’ and ‘stupid’ due to the relationship.
