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A MAN with two “sister wives” and 23 children and stepchildren said he’s open to welcoming another spouse into their family.
Reba Miller was 19 years old when she “married” Thom Miller, 68, in a whirlwind romance that took them both – and Thom’s fourth and current wife Belinda, 51 – by surprise.
Thom Miller with his wives Reba and Belinda, their four children, and Thom’s eldest daughter Rennee, far left[/caption] Reba and Thom welcomed their first child together, Catherine Angelina, in 2016[/caption] Thom Miller with his two wives Belinda, left, and Reba, right, and daughter Catherine Angelina at their home on April 9, 2016 in Mansfield, Ohio[/caption]She had met the older man some years earlier, before she started eighth grade, but things were “different” when they reconnected in her late teens.
The Ohio woman, now 27, told The Sun: “I was standing in line for food when I was younger. We just kind of clicked. I was able to be who I wanted to be. I felt safe around him.
“As I got older, we separated. I moved to Ashland, he moved to Florida, and when we got back in contact it was a little bit different.
“It was like I was a woman to him and he was a man to me.”
Reba said she consulted Belinda before pursuing a relationship with Thom, but once she had her blessing it was all systems go. They spiritually “married” in a church after two months of dating.
She explained: “He treated me like I was an adult instead of like a child and, I don’t know, it just felt right.”
Thom and Reba welcomed their first child Catherine Angelina, seven, together in 2016 and have since had three more: Kirstie Kay, six, Abrianna Lynn, four, and Luca Andrew, two.
To their four children, Reba is “Mommy” and Belinda, who has seven biological children of her own, is “Mama”. Both are full-time stay-at-home mums.
Belinda told The Sun: “The children have brought us closer together. Each of us are seen differently to each of them and it works well. They are our children and not just Thom and Reba’s.
“DNA is a biological factor, but love is from the heart. It takes more than DNA to be a parent. You can ask any of the kids who their parents are and they will tell you all three of us.”
Kirstie Kay was named after her “Mama” Belinda Kay.
Before Reba met Thom, she had never considered polygamy as she “didn’t understand” it.
She said: “It was never something on my mind, then I started talking to Thom about it, he was explaining it to me more and it was just like, ‘Oh, OK, that sounds interesting. That’s different.’
“And I talked to Belinda about it too and she’s like, ‘I fit right in’ and we all clicked and that was that.”
Belinda had some initial concerns, including Reba’s young age and the fact she had known her since she was seven as Reba used to play with Belinda’s daughters.
But she said the decision to welcome Reba into their world was right for them and led to the “experience of a lifetime”.
The then-19-year-old liked the idea of having a big family and a sister-wife to confide in and spend time with while her husband worked.
Each of the women alternate nights with Thom, spending three nights with him in his master suite, followed by three nights in their own bedroom.
Reba said: “I find it good because I have time to myself to do what I want to do. I spend time with the kids, I read, I write, I watch TV, [I make] diamond art, I play The Sims.”
Unlike the women, Thom has no nights off.
He told The Sun: “I don’t need to rest. I’m not that old of a man.”
Reba and Thom share four children: Catherine Angelina, seven, Abrianna Lynn, four, Luca Andrew, two, and Kirstie Kay, six[/caption]Thom was Reba’s first serious, and first sexual, relationship.
When they first revealed to others that they were an item, they received some negativity, including from Reba’s parents who didn’t like that Thom was already married.
Reba said: “Everybody wanted to look at me like a child and tell me I wasn’t allowed to be with who I wanted to be with.
“You can’t help who you fall in love with. It happens, there’s no rhyme or reason to it. When you know it’s right, it’s right.”
Thom insists his family is a “normal family” – who just happens to be polygamous.
He said: “We’re in love and we live differently.
“We’re not crazies. We’re Christians that follow the Bible and believe that nowhere in scripture did it ever say ‘stop doing it’.”
Some have expressed concern about the significant age difference between Reba and Thom, but to them, it makes “no difference”.
Thom said: “It’s weird. You would think I would be like ‘wow, she’s younger than me’ and it’s not. I really believe it’s because of the love that you don’t catch that part of it.
“I’m in love with her. I’m in love with Belinda. I love them and they love me.
“There’s no age in that. There’s no age in that at all.”
The 68-year-old claimed he was equally in love with both his wives and not attracted to one more than the other.
While he has no immediate plans to bring a third wife into the mix, Thom said the idea has “been discussed”.
He said: “The whole drive to this is more family and if the right person came alone and fit us and we felt safe bringing that person into the family then absolutely, yes we would, but there are no immediate plans to do that now.”
Reba is also open to the prospect and said she “wouldn’t mind” having another person to talk to and help out around the house and with her kids.
A former pastor, Thom now owns a small telecommunications company which, along with social security, supports his large family.
He said: “Monogamy didn’t work for me, and monogamy doesn’t work for a lot of men.
“I’m not saying people who cheat on their wives should be polygamous, but I’m saying that most polygamists I know don’t cheat.
“I have conversations with many polygamists and none of them have any mistress somewhere outside of their family.”
Belinda, left, is known as ‘Mama’ to Thom and Reba’s four children[/caption]