Joe Darger Family
© Lauentiu Garofeanu/ Barcroft U
Four individuals, who are married in Salt Lake City, Utah, have kept polygamy in the family. Joe Darger is married to two twin sisters, Vicki and Valerie Darger, and their cousin Alina (video below).

According to ABC News, the Dargers are independent fundamentalist Mormons, who adhere to the tenet of plural marriage put forth by church founder Joseph Smith in the 19th century. The current Mormon Church abandoned polygamy decades ago.

The Daily Mail reports that the Dargers live in the same house and have 24 children. Each of the women has their own bedroom and Joe rotates them nightly. The three wives and their husband have co-written a book 'Love Times Three.'

Joe Darger wifes
© Lauentiu Garofeanu/ Barcroft U
Valerie defends the arrangement as normal: "The fact that Joe was married to Vicki didn't bother me at all. I took it as a sign he would be a good husband for me as well. As teenagers, Vicki and I liked some of the same guys. I thought it might even be good if we married the same man."

Vicki adds: "I know that some people are uncomfortable at the thought of two sisters sharing a husband. But there's a good chance if a husband is compatible with one sister, he'll be well matched with another."

"Even in our community joint courtships are rare. We knew we were taking on a huge challenge and responsibility."

"I was attracted to both girls," Joe explains, "Vicki opened my mind to it. I was attracted to both girls and knew that individual relationships would develop in time."

Joe was 18 when he began dating Vicki and her cousin Alina. He married them in a Mormon ceremony in 1990. Both women encouraged Joe to pursue Vicki's twin Valerie, whom he married in 2000.

In 1962, Congress passed the Morrill Anti-Bigamy Act, which said that polygamy was illegal in all US states.

Joe says that he would like to change the law: "We hope that by talking about our way of life, polygamy will step closer to being an accepted lifestyle and the laws that criminalize it might change."