Robin Roberts and her longtime partner, Amber Laign, are one step closer to saying ‘I do’ after 18 years together.
The brides-to-be looked more in love than ever as they visited the Farmington County Clerk’s Office in Connecticut to obtain their marriage license ahead of their wedding on Friday.
Roberts, 62, and Laign, 49, smiled and held hands in the heartwarming video that was shared on the Good Morning America anchor’s Instagram page the night before the ceremony.
‘Road to the Ring is nearing an end…18 years and totally worth the wait!’ she wrote in the caption, adding the hashtags #ThankfulThursday and #HappyWeddingEve.
Robin Roberts and her longtime partner, Amber Laign, picked up their marriage license this week ahead of their wedding on Friday
The Good Morning America anchor shared a video of the heartwarming moment on Instagram
The footage began with them walking arm-in-arm toward the town hall in Farmington, where Roberts owns a home.
When asked where they were going, Laign announced that they were getting their marriage license.
The massage therapist couldn’t hide her excitement as she gave an open-mouth smile right before they entered the office.
After confirming that their paperwork was filled out, the Farmington County Clerk’s Office employee had them raise their right hands.
‘Do you sincerely affirm and declare that the statements herein made are true?’ she asked, and they both said, ‘Yes.’
Roberts was the first to sign the paperwork followed by Laign.
‘I have to get used to signing Roberts,’ she said of taking her future wife’s name.
‘This is your marriage license. You’ll give this to the reverend at your wedding along with instructions in this envelope,’ the employee explained.
Roberts, 62, and Laign, 49, smiled and held hands as they walked into the Farmington County Clerk’s Office in Connecticut
Laign couldn’t hide her excitement as she gave an open-mouth smile right before they entered the office
A Farmington County Clerk’s Office employee had them raise their right hands and confirm the information on the marriage license was true
‘He’s going to fill out this section down here that says “officiator.” There are only a couple of spots for him to fill in. Then he’s going to return it to this office.
‘We’re going to get this. We’ll sign it, and we’ll add your socials. This paper stays in our vault forever and ever.’
Roberts said ‘everything was wonderful’ as they walked out, but she admitted they had an interesting interaction during the visit.
‘There was a gentleman who said there are three rings to marriage: the engagement ring, the wedding ring, and the suffer-ring. That was nice to hear,’ she joked.
The couple obtained their marriage license just a few days after Laign celebrated her 49th birthday on September 5.
Roberts shared a sweet video of her fiancée making a wish before blowing out the candles on her cake.
‘Big week for Sweet Amber! Before we exchange our wedding vows later this week…tonight a special Birthday celebration,’ she captioned the footage.
Roberts and Laign were introduced by mutual friends in 2005, after being set up on a blind date. The former opened up about their meeting in her memoir, ‘Everybody’s Got Something.’
Roberts was the first to sign the paperwork followed by Laign, who is taking her future wife’s name. ‘I have to get used to signing Roberts,’ she said
Roberts said ‘everything was wonderful’ as they walked out, but she admitted they had an interesting interaction during the visit
‘There was a gentleman who said there are three rings to marriage: the engagement ring, the wedding ring, and the suffer-ring. That was nice to hear,’ Roberts joked.
‘I liked the fact that she had no idea who I was. She rarely followed sports, so she never saw me on ESPN, and her office mates at the time watched a different morning show … ouch!’ she wrote.
‘She is extremely laid-back, no drama, no fuss,’ she added. ‘The main thing we have in common is positive energy. She sees the good in everyone.’
Roberts had Laign’s support when she fought and overcame an early form of breast cancer in 2007. Five years later, she was diagnosed with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), a disease in which the bone marrow does not make enough healthy blood cells.
She underwent several sessions of chemotherapy, and on September 20, 2012, she had a bone marrow transplant from her sister, Sally-Ann Roberts, before returning to Good Morning America in February 2013.
The couple kept their relationship private until 2013, when Roberts came out for the first time in a Facebook post. She shared a list of all the people she was thankful for in honor of the year coming to an end and included her ‘longtime girlfriend, Amber.’
Nearly a decade later, their roles reversed and Roberts became the one caring for Laign as she fought breast cancer.
Roberts revealed Laign’s cancer diagnosis in a video shared on her social media accounts in February 2022, saying she would have to step away from the morning show ‘from time to time’ to be by her partner’s side while she underwent treatment.
‘My sweet Amber wanted me to tell you something that she’s been facing. At the end of [2021], Amber was diagnosed with breast cancer,’ she said.
The couple obtained their marriage license a few days after Laign celebrated her 49th birthday on September 5. Roberts shared a video of her fiancée blowing out the candles on her cake
‘Big week for Sweet Amber! Before we exchange our wedding vows later this week…tonight a special Birthday celebration,’ Roberts captioned the footage
The GMA star explained that Laign had surgery the month before and was starting chemotherapy that day.
‘Thankfully, the prognosis is good. And we’re so grateful to our family and close friends who have known this and have kept it private until Amber was ready to share it with others,’ she continued.
‘I’m just thankful that her spirits have been lifted,’ she said. ‘Recently it was a little tough there when — because she just wanted to get through it and to have this wrench thrown in our way — but I was able to tell her, as most people [who] have gone through cancer, this happens.’
Laign completed her radiation treatment in July 2022.
In January, Roberts revealed that she and Laign were getting married in 2023, a year after her partner’s breast cancer diagnosis.
She made the surprise announcement on GMA while interviewing author Gabby Bernstein about her book ‘Super Attractor: Methods for Manifesting a Life Beyond Your Wildest Dreams.’
Bernstein was sharing techniques for setting intentions in 2023 when she asked Roberts what she would ‘say yes’ to this year.
The flustered journalist admitted she was hesitant to answer because she hadn’t ‘said it out loud yet.’
‘I’m saying yes to marriage. We’re getting married this year,’ she finally shared. ‘It’s something we have talked about, but we had put it off. She became ill, and it is saying yes to that and that next chapter.’
Roberts appeared to surprise everyone, including herself, when she divulged their plans to tie the knot this year.