A couple in love have decided they don’t care what people say about their 19-year age difference.
Keisha Franklin, 22, and Teo, 41, from Eugene, Oregon, met when she dined at his restaurant on her birthday.
At the time, Keisha was 20 and Teo was 39, but she thought he was also 20 because of his dark hair and lack of wrinkles.
Now, in two years they have had two children: Ayda, 20 months old, and Teo, eight months old.
Keisha explained how it took her a year of visiting Teo’s restaurant before he finally took her seriously and agreed to go on a date, making her birthday wish come true.
Loving couple Keisha Franklin, 22, and her fiancé Teo, 41, don’t care what people think of their 19-year age gap. Pictured: Adult Teo holding Ayla and Keisha holding baby Teo.
The couple met when Keisha was 20 and Teo was 39, but they didn’t start dating until a year later.
She said: ‘I was really interested in him but he didn’t take me seriously until almost a year later when I was visiting him at work every day. He was working a lot so I met him and then we started dating.
“I would say that until now I didn’t know if it was a wish come true, but it definitely was.”
After a short time of dating, they decided it was time to tell their families.
Fortunately, Keisha’s mother took the news well because she also has a big age difference with her own husband.
Keisha says she and her partner ignore the haters, knowing that the people who matter love them and support them in their relationship.
The mother-of-two, who has 166,000 followers on TikTok, said: ‘I think I’d rather be with someone with a higher maturity level.
‘We bought our first house together and I stayed at home. I started posting on TikTok when I was pregnant with my second baby and my account started growing rapidly this year.
‘Luckily all my friends and family were very supportive, but there were some people close to us who judged us.
The couple has the full support of their friends and family and are now engaged.
Keisha and Teo say that those they care about support them and that other people’s opinions don’t matter. They are pictured with their family.
They have had two children together in less than two years and Keisha cares for them as a stay-at-home mother.
Keisha says it took her a year to convince Teo to go out with her because he didn’t think she was serious.
Keisha says she initially thought Teo was also in his 20s because of his dark hair and lack of wrinkles.
‘We didn’t mind, because the people close to us knew how in love we were and how compatible we were, so everyone supported us.
‘We’re a pretty laid-back family, so we enjoy our family time, family time with our families and just enjoying our kids.
‘For our family to be strong, we have to be strong as a couple. I’m not saying it’s always like that, but we try to work hard at that idea.’
As a stay-at-home mom of two children under the age of two, Keisha has grown her social media platforms by posting lifestyle and parenting tips on her TikTok account.
Another couple with a 19-year age difference has already revealed what life is like in their relationship.
Emily Stomatuk, 28, married her husband Michael Justin, 47, in November 2023, after meeting him when she was 23 and he was 42.
The Los Angeles-based couple is often asked about their age difference.
Keisha and Teo are photographed in the hospital with Ayla when baby Teo was born.
Teo (pictured with baby Teo) and Keisha say they are very low-key parents and simply enjoy family time and spending time together.
Keisha keeps busy having two children under the age of two.
The stay-at-home mom has also amassed more than 150,000 followers on TikTok.
Although she admitted she had to “train him not to be such a jerk”, Emily said they were initially just friends when they first met, before things got more serious and her parents expressed some concerns.
She recalled that her father found out she was dating Michael and that they had an argument afterwards.
“He told me, ‘I raised you better than this,'” she said in a recent video. “It was like a stab in the heart.”
The couple started taking things more seriously during the pandemic, and Emily decided it was time for her boyfriend to meet her parents.
“The truth is that since the day they met there has been no problem,” she shared. “They saw how happy we were together.”
Emily added that Michael “really looked out for her” at the time, as she was still in nursing school and her parents could see how committed he was.
In 2023, experts have revealed the “ideal age gap” for people who want their relationships to last – and it’s bad news for couples born five years apart.
Despite not dating for the first year after meeting, Keisha and Teo are now engaged.
She recalled her pregnancy experience in 2023 in a TikTok video (in the photo she appears with Ayla as a baby)
A renewed study from Emory University in Atlanta found that couples with a five-year age gap are 18 percent more likely to break up than couples with a closer age gap.
The odds of separation increased to 95 percent for couples with a 20-year age difference.
In 2014, researchers at the institution analyzed 3,000 people as part of their study.
Researchers found that the “ideal” age difference between couples was one year or less.
The study found that the odds of divorce dropped to just three percent for couples who were born 12 months or less apart.
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