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5 women share why they converted for their partners

For example, you have to figure out if your kids will attend church with you, with him, or skip it altogether

5 women share why they converted for their partners

"We would not have had the blessing of his family if I didn’t convert."

Whether or not you hit up a temple or cathedral every week, it's safe to say that you probably identify with some kind of spiritual group. Actually, according to a 2014 study from the Pew Research Center, almost 77 percent of people identify with a religion.

And since whom you fall in love with isn't dependent on whether they set up a Christmas tree or light a menorah, differing religious beliefs could become an issue for some couples down the line.

For example, you have to figure out if your kids will attend church with you, with him, or skip it altogether. And there's always a chance that he'll feel excluded from your family's religious holiday celebrations.

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Though lots of couples work through those issues, many opt to take the plunge and convert to their partner's religion for those reasons or others.

Here, five women explain how and why they changed their spiritual affiliation for, with, or because of their romantic partners.

"I converted to Orthodox Judaism . I wanted to convert because I had met the love of my life, and we would not have had the blessing of his family if I didn’t convert. I wanted to be of the same religion as my husband for my children. I also loved all the customs and holidays. I think our marriage would have been far more difficult if I had not converted." —Laura, 62

"For the first six years of our relationship, my husband and I were just  through life. Then we got married and had a baby, and the bumps in the road really started to take a toll. When we reached a point of almost no reconciliation, he surprised me by bringing our daughter and me to my parents' church.

"It wasn't totally out of the blue though. I had been hinting that I wanted to check it out. Although neither of us was very religious, we needed something to change the path we were on for the sake of our daughter and our marriage. We were baptized as Christians soon after." —Theresa, 28

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"I was mostly agnostic when I met my now-husband, who has been an atheist since he was 8 years old. Even after we got married about six years ago, I still went to the church in my hometown once or twice a year, mostly to see old friends.

"But I found myself hating it. When we talked about science and its contrasts to the multitude of religious mythologies out there, it became clear to me that his logic made sense. Now I'm a staunch (not militant) non-believer." —Leah, 31

"I knew I was never going to be heading to church every Sunday, but becoming a member of the Catholic church was really important to my . So I took the catechism classes and converted. I'm Catholic now, but pretty much in name only. Although our kids will be baptized in the church, too." —Eliana, 30

"My husband’s family is from India and we had a traditional Indian wedding with a red sari, henna—the whole deal. There isn’t a real process to convert to Hinduism, but as we prepared to get married, I became more intrigued by Hindu beliefs and started to learn more.

"All that’s really required to become Hindu is to accept the Hindu way of life and believe in the principle of dharma. I do believe that everything in this world has divinity, which is a core Hindu belief, and I’m learning more all the time. So I consider myself Hindu, even though I wasn’t born into it. My husband didn’t ask me to do this, but his influence and example definitely played a part." —Elizabeth, 36

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