The honeymoon phase for Ariela and Biniyam is over on '90 Day Fiancé: The Other Way.'
The honeymoon phase for Ariela and Biniyam is over on 90 Day Fiancé: The Other Way. On Monday's episode, the couple faced tough questions about their relationship, which Ariela worried might eventually break them up.
During the episode, Biniyam acknowledged during a meeting with his family that Ariela's trip with her mom, Janice -- who came to Ethiopia to make sure the country was suitable for her pregnant daughter to give birth in and to live in -- wasn't going as he had hoped. For example, they didn't like the apartment he had picked out for him and Ariela. Biniyam's family then expressed concern that Biniyam was in the exact same situation as he was with his ex-wife, who is also American. Biniyam's ex-wife eventually left him because she was jealous of his career in entertainment and accused him of having an inappropriate relationship with another woman, and she took their young son back to America as well.
"I would be happier if he married an Ethiopian woman," his sister admitted to cameras.
Another one of his sisters asked him, "What if Ari takes the baby and leaves? How do you plan to not let that happen again?"
Biniyam insisted that Ariela wouldn't do that and that he believed her when she promised him that.
"I do not think my family trusts her," he said. "I feel sad about it ... I hope they eventually understand my relationship. I have learned from my past."
Later, Biniyam took Ariela to the church he went to growing up, which made Ariela uncomfortable. Biniyam identifies as Ethiopian Orthodox Christian, while Ariela is Jewish. Although Ariela was open to visiting the church, she was dismayed when the priest told them that in order for their son to be baptized -- which Biniyam has said is very important to him -- she would have to convert to their religion as well. In a previous episode, 28-year-old Ariela told her family that she definitely plans to raise their son Jewish. When her sister questioned the decision, asking if 29-year-old Biniyam got a say in the matter, Ariela said he didn't and that she found some aspects of his religion "superstitious."
"Honestly, I always felt really uncomfortable with the idea of Christianity because I don't believe in hell," Ariela, whose mother is Roman Catholic while her dad is Jewish, also told cameras. "It's just so awful to me. I just don't think that it's something we should be teaching our son about."
While Ariela acknowledged that she had to learn to compromise to make her relationship with Biniyam work -- for example, letting Biniyam dance at a club with his ex-girlfriend as part of his job -- she felt this was "too much."
"This isn't gonna work," she said. "My first thought is, no way. I've already given up so much and sacrificed so much to be with Baby. I feel like he's just asking too much with this."
After they exited the church, Ariela had a frank conversation with Biniyam.
"I'm thinking about what the priest said," she somberly told him. "He said that we can't baptize our son if I'm not baptized. I know that I want to make you feel good, I know I want to be with you happy. But, I don't necessarily want to do that. Does that upset you?"
Biniyam replied that of course his religion was important to him, but that he didn't want to worry about it that second.
"I feel really sad, because I can't help but feel like I might not be the right person for him," Ariela then admitted to cameras. "But I love him and I have no idea how we're going to get over this, how we're going to compromise on such an important topic."
In a preview of next week's episode, an emotional Ariela is seen telling Biniyam that she feels like he doesn't know her "at all." Biniyam then pleads for her to not leave him.
ET spoke with Ariela in June, and she talked about her fast-moving relationship with Biniyam, whom she met while traveling in Ethiopia. After getting pregnant, she decided to move from New Jersey to Ethiopia so he can be there for the birth of their child.
"You know, in a way it's true, I barely even knew him, but at the same time, when you meet someone and you have that connection, you can feel like you know someone even if it's only been a couple of months," she said. "I decided that I wanted to try at least the experience of being together because I really wanted to start my own family."
Ariela said Biniyam was actually looking to get serious with her immediately, which she was initially put off by.
"The funny thing is, I will say, the first time we really ever spent time together, he just laid it on me," she recalled. "He said, 'I want a serious life, I want a wife and I want a baby and I want, you know, like, a good job, and I want all these things.' And my thought at the time was like, 'Oh my god, this is too much, like, I just met you, calm down.' But I came to appreciate that sentiment, especially when I realized that I was about to have my own family."
Watch the video below for more.
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