A love struck couple have decided they don’t care what people say about their 19-year age gap.

Keisha Franklin, 22, and Teo, 41, from Eugene in Oregon first 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 in his 20s due to his dark hair and lack of wrinkles.

Now, they’ve had two children in two years, welcoming Ayda, 20 months, and Teo, eight months.

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.

Lovestruck couple Keisha Franklin, 22, and her fiancé Teo, 41, don’t care what people think of their 19-year age gap. Pictured: Teo senior 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 very interested in him but he didn’t take me seriously until almost a year later when I would visit him at work everyday. He worked a lot so I got to know him then we started going on dates.

‘I would say I didn’t know if it was a wish come true until now but definitely so.’

After a short time of going on dates, they decided it was time to tell their families.

Luckily, Keisha’s mother took the news well because she also has a large age gap with her own husband.

Keisha says she and her partner ignore people who give them hate, knowing that the people who matter love and support them in their relationship.

The mother-of-two, who has 166,000 followers on TikTok, said: ‘I guess I just rather be with somebody on a higher maturity level.

‘We bought our first home together and I stayed home. I started posting on TikTok when I was pregnant with my second baby and my account started moving fast this year.

‘Luckily all my friends and family were very supportive, but there were some people that were close to us that judged.

The couple have the full support of their friends and family and are now engaged

Keisha and Teo say those that matter support them and other people’s opinions don’t matter. Pictured with family

They’ve had two children together in under two years and Keisha looks after them as a stay at home mother

Keisha says it took her a year to convince Teo to date her as he didn’t believe she was being serious

Keisha says she initially thought Teo was also in his 20s due to his dark hair and lack of wrinkles

‘We don’t care as the people that are close to us knew how in love we were and how compatible we were, so they all supported.

‘We are a pretty low key family so we enjoy our family time and family time with our families and just enjoying our kids.

‘For our family to be strong we have to be strong as a couple. Not saying that it always goes that way be we try to strive on the idea.’

As a busy stay at home mother of two under two, Keisha has grown her social media platforms by posting lifestyle and parenting hacks to her TikTok account.

Another couple with a 19-year age gap previously lifted the lid on what life is like in their relationship.

Emily Stomatuk, 28, married husband Michael Justin, 47, in November 2023, after meeting him when she was 23 and he was 42.

The LA-based couple are often questioned about their age difference.

Keisha and Teo are pictured in hospital with Ayla when baby Teo was born

Teo (pictured with baby Teo) and Keisha say they are very lowkey as parents and just enjoy family time and spending time together

Keisha is kept busy by having two children under two years of age

The stay at home mother has also racked up more than 150,000 followers on TikTok

Although admitting she had to ‘train some of the f**k boy out of him,’ Emily said she was initially just friends with Michael when they first met before things got more serious – and her parents did express some concerns.

She recalled her father finding out she was dating Michael, and an argument they subsequently had.

‘He was like, “I raised you better than this,”‘ she said in a recent video. ‘It was [a] dagger to the heart.’

The couple started getting more serious around the time of the pandemic, and Emily decided it was time for her beau to meet her parents.

‘Honestly, after the day they met him, there has not been one issue since,’ she shared. ‘They saw how happy we were together.’

Emily added Michael ‘really took care’ of her at the time, as she was still at nursing school and her parents could see how committed he was.

In 2023, experts 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 they met, Keisha and Teo are now engaged

She recalled her 2023 pregnancy journey in a TikTok video (pictured with Ayla as a baby)

A resurfaced study by Emory University in Atlanta found that couples with a five-year age gap are 18 per cent more likely to separate than partners who are closer in age.

The chances of a split then shot up to 95 per cent of couples with a 20-year age gap.

In 2014, researchers at the institution analyzed 3,000 people as part of their study.

Researchers found that the ‘ideal’ age gap between couples was one year or less.

The study concluded that the chances of divorce dropped to just three per cent for couples who were born within 12 months or less of one another.