By Eleska Aubespin
Florida Today

Three couples share their stories of conversion:

• Margarete, 73, and Tony Taibi, 72

Margarete had nothing to give Tony Taibi when she met the American soldier in 1951 in her native Germany.

She had no money and no special gifts. So Margarete, a Lutheran by birth, decided there was one thing she could give him.

"Since Tony is Catholic by birth, I decided that as a gift to him, I would convert," Margarete says. "And I knew I liked the Catholic religion. When I was a kid, I would sneak into a Catholic church around the corner because I liked the sermons better."

To convert, Margarete approached a German priest and completed a three-month course. She was then baptized in the Catholic church.

Two years later, in August 1953, the couple married after Margarete secured a visa from the U.S. government.

"I didn't even tell my husband I had converted," she says. "It was a surprise I told him about when I arrived in the United States."

• Sita, 39, and Ahmad Begui, 52

While some partners choose religious conversion before marriage, others wait until after the wedding nuptials.

Take Sita Begui, who converted from Hinduism to Islam only six months ago after 14 years of marriage to husband, Ahmad.

It wasn't something Ahmad, a Muslim since birth, required or asked of his wife. In fact, the couple was supportive of each other's religious beliefs as they attended special ceremonies, and celebrated holidays in both faiths. They were married in a courthouse.

"Conversion should not be the reason why people decide to get married or not," says Ahmad. "If you love each other, what difference should it make? The most important part of a relationship is to have respect and an understanding of each other's beliefs."

• Stephanie, 29, and Alex White, 28

After growing up Catholic in a small Midwest town and attending Catholic grade school, Alex took a giant step: He converted to Judaism. It started as a romantic relationship with Stephanie, 29, who grew up Jewish and felt strongly about being married in a temple by a rabbi. The couple had dated for four years, and religion was the only real issue that caused concern. If there were going to be children, which religion would be practiced?

"We were sitting on the beach one day and Alex talked about the fact that he wanted the kids to have the same Catholic upbringing as he did," Stephanie recalls. "And I said, 'Uh oh, this is going to be a problem."'

In time, the couple realized that any set of beliefs were important and agreed to marry. After some discussion and the blessing of Alex's parents, the couple decided to marry in a Jewish temple. Alex learned Hebrew and connected with a lot of the ideas that Judaism teaches. By the end of the course, Alex decided to become a "Jew By Choice."

Eleska Aubespin