Sister Wives star Meri Brown shared her thoughts on ex-husband Kody Brown’s estrangement from his older kids, including their child, Leon Brown.

“I know that [Kody and Leon] talk on occasion, but I know that Kody has been struggling with many of his relationships with his kids, and I hope that they can figure that out,” Meri, 53, told Us Weekly in an interview published on Wednesday, December 11. “I think there’s got to be a lot of conversations and healing to make that happen.”

Meri then pointed out that “any healing takes time and it takes both parties.” She continued, “So that’s going to be something he’s going to have to deal with on an individual basis with anybody he wants to heal relationships.”

Meri married Kody, 55, in 1990, and they legally divorced in 2014 so that he could marry his fourth wife, Robyn Brown, and adopt her three children from a previous relationship. Despite no longer being legally married, Meri and Kody remained in a spiritual marriage until they confirmed their split in January 2023.

While Meri and Kody share Leon, 29, the Brown patriarch also shares six children with ex-wife Christine Brown, six children with ex-wife Janelle Brown and five children with Robyn, 46. Kody and Janelle’s son Robert Garrison Brown died by suicide in March at the age of 25.

Kody’s estrangement from his older children has been a popular topic on the reality show, and several of the children have spoken out about the dynamic.

Kody and Christine’s daughter Gwendlyn Brown previously revealed in a March 2023 YouTube video that many of her siblings have complex relationships with their father. “Most of us are pretty much estranged. The majority of Janelle’s kids are completely estranged from Kody. Definitely some of mine and most of the siblings in general,” she said, adding that Robyn’s kids have better relationships with him.

Meanwhile, Kody has also reflected on how his splits from Christine, 52, Janelle, 55, and Meri have had a negative impact on his relationships with his kids. “What has happened is in the divorce — in the divorces — is the ugly finger of blame has come out. ‘Dad, you were never at my house,’” he said during a November episode. “I’m sorry, I had four wives. I was at your house, though, because the other wife was complaining that I was at your house.”

Kody went on to accuse his children of “purposefully leaving [him] out of their lives to punish [him] for a crime I did not commit,” claiming that he was “only guilty of not falling madly in love with their mothers.”

While Kody is estranged from several of his children, Meri also explained that she has kept her distance from her ex. “I’m in a place of moving forward in my life and doing things that progress my life, and that’s just kind of part of my past,” the reality star told Us Weekly, adding that she’s “cordial” when they do cross paths.