Sister Wives’ Maddie Brown Defends 1-Year-Old Daughter Evangalynn’s Amputation

Sister Wives star Maddie Brown Brush is speaking out about her 1-year-old daughter Evangalynn Kodi’s amputation surgery. After facing criticism, the reality TV star took to Instagram Tuesday to explain why she and husband Cody Brush made the decision, one that she said was not “a light-hearted decision.”

Brush said that after announcing her daughter’s amputation surgery in late August, she faced an influx of backlash, many people condemning the decision to go through with the procedure. Brush said of the questions she received, people asked, “You cut her foot off?” and “Was it really necessary to cut her foot off?” among others. Although Brush said that she understands the questions “and at first glance, I would ask the same thing,” the decision to have doctors amputate Evangalynn’s left foot was in her best interest.

Born in August of 2019, the 1-year-old was diagnosed with fibular aplasia, tibial campomelia, and oligosyndactyly (FATCO) syndrome at birth, which affects bone formation in utero. Brush explained that her daughter’s “left Tibia bone, along with the bowing it had, was also about a 1/3 shorter than her right.” Although this not very noticeable now, Brush said that “as she grows though, we were looking at the possibility of a dramatic difference.” Brush noted that while some families “opt for a lengthening surgery,” her daughter’s “difference was in the grey area of if that was even possible or not.” If they had not agreed to the amputation procedure, Evangalynn would have had to undergo “at least 4 major surgeries and the possibility of having to amputate in the end.”

The Sister Wives star, who noted that “this was not a light-hearted decision,” explained that she and her husband consulted a number of people before agreeing to the procedure. She said that they “spent the better part of the last year educating ourselves, talking to doctors, prosthetists, other families, and other amputees as we came to the decision we did.”

Brush concluded her post by writing that her daughter’s amputation has caused her to think differently. She said that before her daughter’s procedure, she “classified amputees as one category. You amputated because there was no way of saving the limb.” Now, however, she realizes that “sometimes it’s about quality of life.” She also expressed hope that her post and her daughter’s procedure would help “bring awareness to a part of the [limb difference] world.”