A mom moved in with her ex-husband, current husband and their two children — to save money on rent and says they all get on “amazingly.”
Megan Meyer, 25, was married to her ex-husband, police officer, Tyler, 25, for almost four years and they had a little girl, three, before the pair split at the end of 2023.
She moved back to her home state, California, US, while the divorce was being finalized, and ended up reconnecting with her high school boyfriend, Michael, 25, a laborer.
Just two months later, she fell pregnant with Michael’s baby, and the three adults decided to move to the East Coast in separate apartments, to help raise and co-parent their children.
But the three eventually decided to move in together to save on rent costs – -and have a shared goal of owning a “family compound” with two houses on it.
Megan says the dynamic with her “brother husbands” is just like any other housemate situation — with herself and Michael in the upstairs bedroom, and Tyler sleeping in the garage.
Megan, a stay-at-home mom, from Hiltonhead, South Carolina, said: “At first, living all together was emotionally hard — now, we’re all just buddies, always joking around and playing video games together.
“It’s become our inside joke for me to call them my ‘brother husbands’ — like ‘sister wives’ — it’s even the name of our group chat.
“My ex and I agreed at the time of our split, that we wanted our daughter to have the most normal, blended family she possibly could.
“We don’t like to call this a broken home — I always hoped my ex and I would live close to each other, for her sake.”
At the end of 2023, Megan and Tyler, who had been married since January 2020, decided to divorce after “growing apart.”
Megan decided to move out of the family home in Tennessee and go back to her home state of California, to surround herself with support from family and friends.
While she was there, she reconnected with an old boyfriend from high school — who she went no-contact with after meeting Tyler.
“We went ‘no-contact’ because we’d dated for four months in high school,” she said.
“It was a very public, dramatic breakup at the time — our pastor found out we’d slept together and neither of our families were happy.
“But when my ex and I split, I reached out to him — originally to ask for job opportunities, and if he knew anyone who was hiring.
“He got me a job as a student supervisor with his mom, we slowly reconnected and started seeing each other.”
Two months into dating each other, Megan and Michael found out in November 2023 they were expecting a baby.
Despite not being in an “official” relationship at the time, Megan says they couldn’t ignore the feelings they had for each other — and decided to make it work as a couple.
“It felt like I was in a tornado — everything was happening so fast,” she said.
“Because of my ‘silliness,’ things went way too fast, but we got our beautiful son out of it, so I don’t have any regrets.”
At the time, Megan and Tyler’s daughter divided her time equally between the two homes — spending one week in Tennessee, one week in California.
Tyler initially proposed moving to California to make co-parenting easier — but the three co-parents, including Michael, compromised on a completely new move to the East Coast.
They originally agreed to have their own separate apartments in South Carolina — but two months into moving in, realized how expensive it was going to be living apart.
Megan said: “Finances just got so unbearable — at the beginning of May [2024], I was dropping my daughter off at my ex’s place, when I asked, hesitantly, if we could all move in together.
“My current husband had been suggesting it for a while — but I kept telling him it was ‘crazy,’ and that it isn’t what people do.
“I came round to the idea of us having one place, but our own space — and to my surprise, Tyler said ‘yes.’
“We made a group chat, sent each other properties, and we found a townhome we liked.”
In July 2024, the new family moved into their new home.
Megan and Michael’s son, now five months, was born in August 2024.
It was agreed that Tyler would sleep in the garage bedroom, while Megan and Michael would have a room upstairs.
While the family has settled into a “good dynamic” now — Megan says it was hard at first to deal with emotions surrounding her break up.
“It didn’t feel complicated — but it was emotionally draining, at first,” she said.
“I was nine months pregnant by the time I moved in — and by August, my postpartum emotions were all over the place.
“There were times where I’d feel angry about something that happened with my ex and I — and the feelings would be triggered by something he’d say or do.
“I also felt guilty about how quickly things were moving with my now-husband.”
Even though Megan and Tyler had a rocky start — she says they all get on really well together.
They even have a chore routine fleshed out — Megan looks after the kids and de-clutters the house, while the “two guys” take out the trash and wash the dishes.
Now, the plan is for the family-of-five to live on a family compound — with Megan, Michael, Tyler and his new partner, living in separate houses.
“We’re in an absolute housing crisis,” Megan said.
“We want our daughter to have a yard, a pool, and space to explore.
“We’d love to get a large property and have two homes on it — so our daughter can move between them freely.
“A place of normalcy — where we don’t have to go through the pick up and drop off process.”
Tyler said: “Some of the pros of living together include more quality time with my daughter and her getting to witness healthy relationships between us.
“We have less alone time, though — and I have to share my couch more than I would like.
“There’s no awkwardness between us at all — except when we all bicker at TV time.
“My new partner is excited and wants to join the circus, she loves the dynamic and how much we’re willing to sacrifice for our kids.”
Michael said: “My parents divorced young, so I didn’t experience a complete family setting myself — but I always wished it for my own family someday.
“Even though this living situation is awkward to some, it fits us all for now.
“I feel good — my wife and her ex hurl at the sight of each other, sometimes, so I have nothing to worry about!
“I trust both of them and I love my wife with every bit of my soul.
“Of course, I wouldn’t wish divorce on anyone; but if possible, coparent for the kids.”
