Legalize Polygamy?

This is a partial transcript from "On the Record," May 16, 2006, that has been edited for clarity.

GRETA VAN SUSTEREN, HOST: The official vows of marriage are to love, honor, and cherish, but what about forsaking all others? Well, not so fast according to our next guest.

Joining us from Salt Lake City, Utah is Mary Batchelor. She is executive director of the pro-polygamy group Principal Voices and she was once a member of a polygamist family, welcome Mary.

MARY BATCHELOR, PRO-POLYGAMY ACTIVIST: Hi.

VAN SUSTEREN: So, Mary, let me just to set the stage you were married to a man who had two wives but the other wife divorced your husband so that's why you're left alone with him, is that right?

BATCHELOR: Right, I'm the only wife now.

VAN SUSTEREN: OK. All right, how long were you in a polygamist relationship? How long did your husband have two wives?

BATCHELOR: For three years.

VAN SUSTEREN: Why did you do that? I mean do you like sharing your husband? What's the attraction to this relationship?

BATCHELOR: First and foremost for me it was a religious belief. It was part of my religious philosophy and I chose to do this because I believed that it was right for me and I actually did like the lifestyle. It was hard for me when the other wife left to adjust to monogamy. I know that sounds really odd.

VAN SUSTEREN: Did you ever get jealous of her and her relationship with him?

BATCHELOR: Yes, I think it's natural to have jealousy. The truth is I've had — I actually have had more experience with jealousy in monogamy than I did in polygamy because I accepted her presence there.

VAN SUSTEREN: And what about the divorce itself was it, I don't know to say this but I mean a good divorce in the sense that it was not too hostile between your husband and his other wife so that it didn't create problems?

BATCHELOR: No. No, it was very painful. It was very painful and it was very hard to work through.

VAN SUSTEREN: All right, now is your husband looking for another wife now?

BATCHELOR: We're open to moving forward into plural marriage again, yes. We do believe in it. We want to live this way but we're going to have — we're going to be very careful...

VAN SUSTEREN: All right, what religion...

BATCHELOR: ...which is why we haven't done it since then.

VAN SUSTEREN: OK. What religion are you that supports or suggests or promotes polygamy?

BATCHELOR: Well I consider myself an independent fundamentalist Mormon which means that I have a Mormon belief system even though I'm not a member of the LDS Church and I don't practice this lifestyle as part of the LDS Church — or the FLDS I should say.

VAN SUSTEREN: All right, and we should probably clarify this. The LDS is Mormon. FLDS is a group that sprung off over 100 years ago. And the Mormon Church itself condemns polygamy and, in fact, excommunicates anyone who practices it is that right?

BATCHELOR: Well, I don't know that they condemn polygamy but they do excommunicate people for practicing it. The early leaders of the church actually practiced polygamy and they still honor those people.

VAN SUSTEREN: How is it different being in a polygamist marriage and a commune for instance, any thoughts about that?

BATCHELOR: Well, I've never been in a commune so I really can't say what the difference is. I will say that it was just a family. I mean my experience was it was just a family. There was another woman in the picture. I embraced her as part of the family just like if she were my sister. The only difference was that we were growing together rather than growing apart and marrying other men.

VAN SUSTEREN: All right, Mary, thank you. I hope you'll come back as we continue this discussion. It's a hot topic. Thank you, Mary.

BATCHELOR: OK, thanks.

Content and Programming Copyright 2006 FOX News Network, LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Transcription Copyright 2006 Voxant, Inc. ( www.voxant.com), which takes sole responsibility for the accuracy of the transcription. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No license is granted to the user of this material except for the user's personal or internal use and, in such case, only one copy may be printed, nor shall user use any material for commercial purposes or in any fashion that may infringe upon FOX News Network, LLC'S and Voxant, Inc.'s copyrights or other proprietary rights or interests in the material. This is not a legal transcript for purposes of litigation.