Sema Teymur, who lives in Norsborg and studied at Hagabergs folk high school in Södertälje, came into contact with the Church of Sweden while studying, where female priests have existed since 1960. According to official sources, she initially did not plan to become a priest, but after a life crisis she realized her calling and felt compelled to go against the cultural background she had from Turkey and the Syriac Orthodox Church, where female priests are not allowed. Her family, who largely fled from Turkey to Austria, initially had difficulty accepting her life path, but they now support her.
According to SVT Nyheter, some of her siblings supported her from the beginning, but her father in particular had difficulty accepting this, though he has now also understood that this was not so terrible. The specific life crisis she experienced and when exactly she became a priest in Brunnsängs church remain unknown, as do the details of her family dynamics and challenges from the Syriac Orthodox Church community.