National Geographic > The Polygamists

At 88, Joe Jessop is an elder of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS), the controversial sect that split from the Mormon Church after it banned plural marriage. In Hildale, Utah, he has tried to fulfill his duty to build up his "celestial family"—5 wives, 46 children, and 239 grandchildren. "I've had a blessed life," he says. "I wouldn't trade places with anyone."

An FLDS man leaves the funeral service for Foneta Jessop, linking arms with six of his wives, two of them Foneta's daughters. "They made these dresses especially for the occasion," he says, "and chose the same color to symbolize the love they share." Only men deemed "godly" are permitted to enter into plural marriage by the church leader; those later judged unworthy can have their wives and children reassigned to other men.

Veda Keate, 20, and her daughter, Sereena, 4, were among more than 400 church members taken into protective custody after a 2008 raid on the FLDS ranch in West Texas.

Foto's: Stephanie Sinclair

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