Joseph Smith/Polygamy/Children of polygamous marriages

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Children of polygamous marriages

Polyandry

Children of Joseph Smith by polygamous marriages

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• What is known about possible children through Joseph Smith's polygamous marriages?

Question: What is known about possible children through Joseph Smith's polygamous marriages?

Summary: Is it possible that Joseph Smith fathered children with some of his plural wives, and that he covered up the evidence of pregnancies? Did Joseph Smith have intimate relations with other men’s wives to whom he had been sealed, and did any children result from these unions? DNA testing has so far proven these allegations to be false.

Jump to Subtopic:

• Question: Can you summarize what we know about whether or not Joseph Smith fathered any children by his plural wives?
• Question: Did Joseph Smith father any children through polygamous marriages?
• Question: What did the husband of Sylvia Sessions know about her sealing to Joseph Smith for eternity?
• Question: Did Prescindia Buell (or Sarah Pratt, or Mrs. Hyde) not know who was the father of her son?
• Question: Did Joseph Smith father children by polyandrous plural wife Prescindia Buell?

See also Brian Hales' discussion

Did Joseph Smith’s Plural Marriages Include Sexual Relations?	Some wonder if sexual relations were included in Joseph Smith’s plural marriages. The answer is yes or no, depending upon the type of plural marriage. Those marriages, often called “sealings,” were of two types. Some were for this life and the next (called “time-and-eternity”) and could include sexuality on earth. Others were limited to the next life (called “eternity-only”) and did not allow intimacy in mortality. Overall, evidence indicates that less than half of Joseph Smith’s polygamous unions were consummated and sexual relations in the others occurred infrequently.
Sexual Relations are Documented In Less than Half of Joseph Smith’s Plural Marriages	It appears the Prophet experienced sexual relations with less than half of the women sealed to him. There is no credible evidence that Joseph had sex with three subgroups of his plural wives: (1) fourteen-year-old wives, (2) non-wives (or women to whom he was not married), and (3) legally married women who were experiencing conjugal relations with their civil husbands.
Children from Joseph Smith’s Plural Marriages	No children are known to have been born to Joseph and his plural wives.

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