’90 Day Fiancé: The Other Way’: Biniyam’s Family Pressures Ariela to Baptize Her Newborn, But She’s Not Ready
Biniyam and Ariela finally welcomed their newborn on a recent episode of 90 Day Fiancé: The Other Way. But just hours after the baby’s birth, Ariela faced questions about his baptism. Biniyam tried to convince Ariela to have their son baptized, but she wasn’t ready to talk.
Ariela has mentioned she wants to raise her son in the Jewish faith
Earlier this season on 90 Day Fiancé: The Other Way, Ariela’s family asked her how she would navigate her religious differences with Biniyam. The reality star said she planned on raising her son in the Jewish faith.
“Biniyam and I follow different religions,” Ariela said in a confessional. “He is Ethiopian Orthodox Christian, and I was raised Jewish. But Raising my baby in the Jewish faith is important to me, and there’s no way I would ever convert to become Ethiopian Orthodox.”
Ariela said that she told Biniyam and his family that they would get no say in the baby’s religious upbringing. And while admitting she didn’t know much about his religion, she suggested she found some of his beliefs to be a “little superstitious.”
Ariela refused to convert earlier this season on ’90 Day Fiancé: The Other Way’
After settling down in Ethiopia before her baby’s birth, Ariela visited Biniyam’s Ethiopian Orthodox Christian church. Biniyam suggested she convert to his religion, but she noted her beliefs wouldn’t allow her to do so.
“My parents are also not of the same religion,” Ariela told 90 Day Fiancé: The Other Way producers. “My father is Jewish, and my mother is Roman Catholic. Honestly, I always felt really uncomfortable with the idea of Christianity because I don’t believe in hell. It’s just so awful to me. I just don’t think that it’s something we should be teaching our son about.”
When Biniyam asked about getting his newborn son baptized, his priest suggested Ariela would need to be baptized first. “Before the baby can be baptized as a Christian, he must suckle from a Christian breast,” he explained.
Biniyam’s family asks about the baptism hours after Ariela gives birth
After undergoing an emergency c-section, Ariela gave birth to a healthy baby boy. But soon after he was born, she butts heads with Biniyam over the newborn’s name. Ariela suggested the name Aviel and Biniyam pushed for the name Gabriel.
The couple decided to nickname their baby boy Simba until they could agree on an official name. But when Biniyam’s sisters came to visit and started asking about getting the baby baptized, they opened a whole other can of worms.
“Baptism is our culture, Biniyam said in a confessional. “It happens forty days after birth for boys as part of the Orthodox custom. It’s really hard to convince Ariela of baptism because we have different beliefs. She said she would think about it, and I have given her time. This is more important to me than anything.”
But Ariela felt that this wasn’t the right time for the conversation. She noted how tired she was from the delivery. And she just didn’t want to be bogged down with making this decision so soon.
“I respect their religion,” she told producers. “I respect their culture. But everyone keeps pushing this on me. Right now is not the time. I’m exhausted, and I’m in pain and I don’t want to talk about it.”
As seen in a 90 Day Fiancé: The Other Way sneak peek, Ariela will get into a heated exchange with Biniyam’s sisters over the baptism issue. Fans will get to see the drama unfold as the season continues.
