I fled my ultra-strict Amish community – here are the most shocking things about the culture
A woman who ran away from her incredibly strict Amish community has revealed the three things that always shock people about how she grew up.
Lizzie EnsThe 36-year-old from Ohio fled the Amish lifestyle when she was 19 years old and has never looked back.
The former Amish member turned nutrition coach is now sharing stunning information about her childhood with her more than 172,000 followers.
And in a recent video, Lizzie revealed the three most surprising facts about her childhood, including that she has eighteen siblings and speaks three languages.
Lizzie Ens, 36, from Ohio, who ran away from the Amish community, has revealed the three things that always shock people about how she grew up
She fled the Amish lifestyle when she was 19 years old and has never looked back
The former Amish member turned nutrition coach is now sharing stunning information about her childhood with her more than 172,000 followers
In a viral video that has been viewed more than 2.1 million times to date, Lizzie describes the most shocking aspects of her life as an Amish member.
She captioned the clip: “Always some of my top favorites to share that shock people.”
“So these are the three things that always surprise people when I tell them about my Amish community,” she said at the beginning of the clip.
The first shocking aspect of her life is that her parents have “nineteen children.”
‘My parents have nineteen children and within those nineteen children there are three twins and I am a twin.
“Not only that, my mother gave birth to all these children naturally,” Lizzie said.
The ex-Amish member then revealed that she did not have a Social Security number growing up.
So when she left the lifestyle behind, she had to get one.
“When I left, I had to get a social security number and let’s not forget, there was $20 in my name when I left,” she explained.
Finally, Lizzie shared that people are always shocked to hear that she speaks three different languages.
Now Lizzie has revealed the three most surprising facts about her childhood, including that she has 18 siblings and speaks three languages.
The first shocking aspect of her life is that her parents have ’19 children’ and then she said that she knows three languages
She noted that she knows Pennsylvania Dutch, German and English.
At the end of the clip, she talked about how she grew up in a very “strict order” of the Amish community and wasn’t even allowed to have flowers.
Lizzie grew up in a Swartzentruber Amish community, known as the most conservative branch.
Members of the Swartzentruber Amish community avoid indoor pipes, milk machines and telephone booths in the community.
They also refuse to adapt to daylight saving time, rely on buggy transport and use only wood ovens for cooking and heating, while windmills and old-fashioned hand pumps are used to secure water. Women should wear dresses that reach the edge of their shoes.
In the past, Lizzie said they were allowed to date, but only saw their partner once every two weeks and could never be seen together in public.
People flooded the comments and expressed their shock as they showed their support
She noted that on traditional dates, the couple would cuddle for hours
Lizzie initially tried to escape the Amish world when she was 17 years old with her twin sister, but they both returned shortly after trying to leave.
Two years later, at the age of 19, Lizzie left for good, just before her sister’s wedding, which she was no longer allowed to attend after leaving the community.
People flooded the comments and expressed their shock.
One person said: ‘Very interesting, wow.’
Someone else added: “Wow, survivor.”
Another user commented: ‘Thanks for sharing.’