A woman who married a man 19 years her senior has revealed what it’s really like to be in an age-gap relationship, including how she broke the news to her parents.
Emily Stomatuk, 28, married her husband Michael Justin, 47, in November 2023, after meeting him when she was 23 and he was 42.
The couple, who reside in Los Angeles, are often asked about their 19-year age difference. revealing in a recent Tik Tok Video of how they told their loved ones.
“My parents had some concerns,” admitted Emily, who works as a travel nurse in the ICU.
Emily Stomatuk, 28, married her husband Michael Justin, 47, in November 2023, after meeting him when she was 23 and he was 42.
“My parents had some concerns,” Emily, who works as a travel nurse in the ICU, admitted about the reaction to the age difference.
The couple is frequently questioned about their 19-year age difference, and a TikTok video reveals how their loved ones took the news.
Although she admitted she had to “train him some damn boy,” Emily said she was initially just friends with Michael when they met before things got more serious, and her parents expressed some concerns.
She recalled her father finding out she was dating Michael and an argument they had afterwards.
“He told me, ‘I raised you better than this,'” she said in a recent video. ‘Was [a] dagger in the heart.
The couple started to get more serious around the time of the pandemic and Emily decided it was time for her boyfriend to meet her parents.
“Honestly, after the day they met him, there hasn’t been any problems since,” she shared. “They saw how happy we were together.”
Emily added that Michael “really looked out for her” at the time, since she was still in nursing school and her parents could see how committed he was.
‘[I have] “A great relationship with her father, a great relationship with her mother,” Michael chimed in, adding that Emily’s father has said that Michael is “like a son” to him.
TikTok users shared their thoughts about the happy couple and their age difference, many of them supporting their union.
Emily added that Michael “really looked out for her” at the time, since she was still in nursing school and her parents could see how committed he was.
Emily said that after her parents met Michael and saw how happy they were together, there haven’t been any problems.
TikTok users shared their thoughts about the happy couple and their age difference, many of them supporting the couple.
‘My mom and dad are 22 years apart. And my fiancé and I are 14 years old. As long as there is respect and love, everything is fine,” agreed another.
‘My parents are 19 years apart! Nothing but love and it’s completely normal to me,” another chimed in.
‘I think it’s so funny that people express their opinions about your relationship as if they were the people in it! The only thing that matters is that you are happy!!’ agreed another.
‘I got married at the age of 20 to my late husband, who was 19 years older than me. We were married for 31 years before he passed away due to cancer. Age didn’t make a difference!’
In 2023, experts revealed the “ideal age difference” for people who want their relationships to last, and it’s bad news for couples born five years apart.
A resurfaced study from Emory University in Atlanta found that couples with a five-year age difference are 18 percent more likely to break up than couples closer in age.
The chances of a breakup shot up to 95 percent for couples with a 20-year age difference.
In 2014, researchers from the institution analyzed 3,000 people as part of their study.
The researchers found that the “ideal” age difference between couples was one year or less.
The study concluded that the chances of divorce dropped to just three percent for couples who were born 12 months or less apart.