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- Polygamous reality star Menna Barlow Morrison says she's faced many challenges in her marriage but wouldn't change her lifestyle for anything.
- The 22-year-old is the fourth and newest wife of Three Wives, One Husband star Abel Morrison.
- Menna admitted that her biggest challenge is sharing her husband with three other women.
The newest fourth wife of Three Wives, One Husband star Abel Morrison has slammed the discrimination she faces because of her polygamous marriage but admits sharing her husband with three other women is "a struggle".
Menna Barlow Morrison, 22, a rural mail carrier originally from Arizona, USA, now lives at Rockland Ranch, Utah, with her business owner husband Abel Morrison, 42, and his other wives Suzie, 42, Beth, 42, and Marina, 29, and their 15 children (aged six months to 20 years).
Menna grew up in a polygamist family with three wives and 40 children and began courting Abel in 2018 when she was 18 years old after they met through their religious community. They married a year and a half later, with Menna having always felt that she would one day join Abel's family. The two share a son, Oliver, who was born in April 2022.
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The family came to fame in the documentary Three Wives, One Husband. The documentary aired on Channel 4, TLC, and Netflix but 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 church). Fundamentalist Mormons live by the principles and practise no longer held by the LDS church, specifically, that plural marriage will help them to reach the highest level of heaven.
Menna has faced many challenges in her marriage, most notably having to share her husband with three other women. She has also faced extreme discrimination, with people assuming that she is "stupid" and "brainwashed". However, Menna would not change her polygamous lifestyle for anything and wishes that people would be more understanding.
"I always felt I would join Abel's family someday," Menna says. "I prayed for three years before we talked about marriage.
"I started talking to Abel when I was 18 years old, at the end of 2018. We courted for a year and a half and then got married on May 16th 2020. It was a small wedding; only a select few were invited."
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Menna acknowledges that there are significant challenges with living in a plural marriage.
"The greatest challenge is the most obvious: sharing your husband. It's hard to know that you're not the only woman in his life. 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," she says.
"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 the difficulties, 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 says. "Without plural marriage, I wouldn't have my baby boy Oliver. And I never could have married Abel, who has been a huge blessing to me. He does an excellent job of caring for his family.
"Oliver had many trials soon after birth, the scariest being that his blood sugar levels dropped so low that he didn't have enough energy to breathe. We're so thankful to have our little boy with us today."
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Menna has also spoken out against the cruel discrimination she and other women like her have faced.
"Some think we're forced into this way of living which is not true; no one in our circle is forced into plural marriage," she said. "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."
She has also lost friends because of her choice to live in a plural marriage.
"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."
Despite the discrimination that she has faced, Menna - who has 13.4K followers on TikTok - also has numerous supporters.
"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," Menna says.
"Up to now, I've been private about things. 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."
Source: mediadrumimages/MennaMorrison/MAGAZINEFEATURES.CO.ZA
