Matchmaker Laura Jacobs Gets Candid On Embracing Motherhood And Offers Expert Dating Wisdom

Laura Jacobs, the model-turned-matchmaker known for her ability to bring souls together, found herself single at 33 – and it scared her. Like many women, the blue-eyed blonde bombshell wanted to find love and have children. She'd just spent the past two years healing her wounds from a toxic relationship, a painful, yet powerful experience many women are familiar with today. The fractured relationship had taught her a lot about herself, leading her to self-love and to recognize what she needed in a partner. After a transformative period, Laura met her fiancé, Kevin Neal.

On their first date, Kevin asked Laura how many kids she wanted. "Well, at least two would be nice," she said. "That's not going to work for me," he replied. She felt defeated. Every guy she'd dated in the past felt the same about having a family: They either didn't want any kids or only wanted one. After a brief moment of silence, Kevin surprised her. "That's not going to work, because I want four kids. How do you feel about that?" Laura was pleasantly surprised, but she had some concerns. Would she still be able to have a big family in her 30s?

Three years later, Laura and Kevin welcomed beautiful twins, and after their first birthday, she became pregnant again – with another set of twins. Their beautiful family is complete, with her due date coming up in November 2023. "It's all fun and games dating and falling in love with the 6'7" guy until you literally birth an entire sports team," she jokingly told me. 

We're only halfway through 2023, and it's already been a significant year for Laura. This year, she made a memorable appearance on The Roku Channel's Match Me in Miami, a reality TV series that chronicled the journey of her matchmaking agency alongside Devyn Simone, showcasing their team of tenacious employees. Filming began only six weeks after Laura had welcomed her babies, and her struggles with working postpartum were not at all evident to viewers and, sadly, to some of her castmates. I asked her how she managed the responsibilities of being a new mom while also working on set. 

"I have to be honest," Laura tells me. "I didn't. I struggled the entire time. And I think, watching the show back is definitely hard for me because I see myself struggling. I was a first-time mom, so I didn't know what I was committing to, and I don't regret it in any way – but I think there's no sympathy for new moms." As the cameras rolled, the new mother grappled with having to pump during 15-hour-filming days, resulting in discomfort and pain in her back and breasts. She had to use wearable, hands-free breast pumps, which she wore under her shirt.

To make matters worse, one of her employees – Nelly Sudri – made a comment about having her "chest" out "on display," insinuating that what she was doing was inappropriate. This comment greatly affected the new mom, and understandably so. “It hurts so bad because it's our right as mothers to feed our kids,” Laura says. “Like, you've got to be kidding. It’s actually Florida law.” According to the U.S. Department of Labor, breastfeeding employees are entitled to have breaks and a private space to pump and breastfeed. She continues, “I feel like people watching this show are maybe younger, and they're kind of insensitive to that. And I wasn't putting my body on display."

If that wasn't bad enough, Nelly further disrespected her newborns and doubled down on social media rather than apologizing. In episode four of Match Me in Miami, Laura approached Nelly in an effort to work things out between them, but it instead turned into her castmate screaming at her. Things didn’t improve between the colleagues throughout the series, and I could tell the lack of support took a toll on Laura. It’s become evident that the media and society often disrespected and neglected mothers. "I think when you're watching reality TV you forget that these are actual human beings. Like, I'm a human being,” she states, “and my 2-month-old infants were insulted on national TV. That's pretty freaking hard for me to deal with."

Throughout the show, Nelly received plenty of screentime when it came to defending herself, but it seemed like Laura didn’t get as many chances to defend herself. I hope whoever comes across this article can acknowledge the pain Laura endured behind the scenes. While her main goal was to highlight the impactful work accomplished by her and Devyn's agency, she couldn’t remain silent about the vitriol she faced. “I got insulted in a way that's so deep and personal, and to be insulted for feeding your kids... It's like getting a knife through the stomach,” Laura recalls.

Regardless, she and Devyn achieved their goal: to show people their skills and innate talent in matchmaking. 

Nicole Dominique: What’s it like being a new mother?

Laura Jacobs: I love being a mom. I think it's definitely an adjustment. I mean, it's honestly my personal opinion that mothers, the whole idea of mothers in society, have really been forgotten almost. In general, society is very superficial these days. I read an article on this recently, that once you become a mother, you're a bit outcasted in society. It's like, "Oh, you're not hot and young anymore, and you're a mom now, and you're just gonna be inside with your kids." And there are a lot of issues that I feel society just doesn't care about, and they don't want to hear about it.

The postpartum period, for example, which is the period after birth, is a huge adjustment. Your hormones are all over the place. And I remember posting about this, and people said, "Oh, you have postpartum depression." No, I don't. It's called the postpartum period. There's this lack of education about mothers.