A woman says she made her partner who is 35 years older than her promise to get a vasectomy reversal before agreeing to date him.
Flight attendant Nena Zahed, 25, met her 59-year-old boyfriend Jose Martinez at a restaurant in June 2020.
They quickly struck up a conversation and chatted for hours at the bar after dinner.
The pair exchanged numbers and several days later they met up for their first date - but there was something on her mind.
While the age gap didn't bother either of them, Nena was concerned that nephrologist Jose had had a vasectomy and got made him agree to have it reversed so they could one day start a family.
The woman from Florida, US, said: "We didn't feel love at first sight despite really liking each other. I was intrigued to see him again, but we thought our connection would be something very casual.
"During one of our dates, we got to talking about our futures where Jose mentioned that he didn't want to get married and that as he had a vasectomy, he wouldn't be able to have kids.
"After that, I didn't really see the relationship going anywhere as marriage and kids are two of the most important things to me.
"We continued to see each other every few months after this, but despite our attraction to one another, the age difference definitely made us both quite sceptical of the relationship going anywhere serious.
"After taking a trip around Florida, I could tell that Jose was falling in love with me. I think he realised that I was a lot more apprehensive, but after three months, I couldn't hide my feelings for him any longer."
After four months of dating, the duo decided to move in together once their relationship had reached new levels.
Although the two have had their doubts about their relationship, they are now planning in the near future to get engaged and hope to tie the knot shortly after.
"If the vasectomy reversal fails for any reason, we will likely pursue IVF if needed. We want to be able to have a family together, which most people think is crazy," she went on.
"People don't understand why Jose is having a baby so late and they don't understand why I want to have a baby with someone who is far older than me - but we feel connected like soulmates and want to experience having a family together."
"There's a thirty-five year age gap between us, which was a struggle for Jose to get over at first as people kept staring at us each time we were out in public.
"I have dated older guys before, so I wasn't too fussed - but even thirty-five years was a bit of a push for me at the beginning.
"However, we get along so well - he's the best friend I've ever had. We do most things together and Jose treats me like a princess by surprising me with romantic gifts such as flowers.
"I also treat Jose like the king that he is by surprising him with things like an indoor picnic which I did for our anniversary, as well as other little gifts."
Critics accuse her of being a 'gold digger' and him of being a 'sick old man,' but Nena said they are soulmates.
"I've shown him a new way of life, which has helped him to come out of his comfort zone - which erases any doubts that we had," she said.
"We told Jose's family and friends in May 2020 who were really supportive. Due to this, I went on to tell my family and friends.
"Despite my friends being happy for us, my family weren't very accepting besides my sister - which I'm not too fussed about, as I'm not that close to my family.
"I moved in with Jose after around four months of being together, which has been so fun and neither one of us have ever been so excited to come home to someone in a very long time.
"For the future, we're planning on getting engaged and hopefully married soon after. Starting a family is very high up on our priority list and I think if Jose wasn't open to getting a vasectomy reversal, we wouldn't have made it as a couple."
