Meeting my fiancé Mark’s parents should have been exciting, but the evening turned into a whirlwind of tension and judgment. We’d been together for a year, and after finding out I was pregnant, Mark proposed. It wasn’t the dreamy proposal I envisioned, but it was heartfelt, and I knew it came from a place of love.

Dinner with his strict, traditional family made me nervous. I’d always been good at making a good impression, but Mark’s parents were a different story. I spent ages choosing an outfit, finally settling on the first one I’d tried. When we arrived at his parents’ house, Mark seemed tense, but I tried to stay calm.