Love Is Blind season 10 star Emma Betsinger admittedly felt “awkward” explaining to fiancé Mike Gibney’s parents about her reasons for not wanting to have children.
“It was very stressful,” Emma, 28, exclusively told Us Weekly ahead of the Netflix premiere of the latest batch of new episodes. “[Mike and I] talk extensively about it. We [talked] in Cabo, we talked in the pods, and I felt safe telling him, like, where my head was at.”
Before Emma and Mike, 30, got engaged sight unseen in the Love Is Blind pods, she revealed that she was on the fence about whether or not to have children. Mike didn’t see Emma’s candor as a dealbreaker, continuing to pursue their relationship. (Emma has repeatedly stressed that she’s unsure about having kids since she’s adopted and has no medical history for her biological parents or potential genetic conditions she might pass down.)
While the couple continued discussing a potential family on their post-pod vacation in Mexico, they later faced questions from Mike’s family upon their return to Ohio. Mike, once again, had Emma’s back.
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“He was giving me that autonomy to choose and the support there with his family, and with mine too,” Emma told Us. “I think it was now, [like, here you are] integrating and meeting family for the first time. You’re trying to explain that you’re engaged and that this process does work, but then also throwing the layer of ‘kid yes’ or ‘kid no’ into it.”
Emma further pointed out that Mike’s family “loves kids” and were quite passionate about eventually seeing Mike become a dad.
“I think that was something very stressful for me, like, ‘Oh, I didn’t realize that this became real.’ I think, for me, it became an added layer of just complexity to me and Mike’s bubble,” Emma said. “It is about me and Mike, but it’s also about his family and my family. And, yeah, so it’ll be interesting to watch, but I did feel awkward.”
Emma and Mike met one another’s families in the Wednesday, February 18, drop of season 10 episodes. While they faced questions about having children, Mike stressed that he never planned to pressure Emma into becoming a mom.
“I was trying to be open about it,” Mike told Emma’s siblings and parents in one scene. “The more that I’m thinking about it, I don’t think I can. I haven’t asked [Emma], and I told [her] I will not push [her]. I respect [her] decision, whatever it is.”
Emma got engaged to Mike after cutting off respective pod connections with Steven Sunday and Connor Spies.
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“I always knew [in my gut] it was Mike because he was challenging me,” Emma told Us. “We had great conversations, [and] when I said something he would be like, ‘But, why do you think that?’ Or he was so inquisitive and wanted to learn more about me as I did him, and he was very open, and that’s what really drew me to him.”
She continued, “In the end, and going to Cabo with Mike, and just being with him, I felt a sense of calm and [security] and safety with him. [He] had all the elements of a future partner when we started continuing to grow our love within Mexico.”
Love Is Blind season 10 is currently streaming on Netflix. New episodes drop weekly on Wednesdays.
