Co-Parenting Sites Skip Love and Marriage, Go Right to the Baby Carriage. A new kind of online service matches people who want to have children, but not necessarily romance

Wall Street Journal ^ | January 7, 2020 | Julie Jargon

[karpov]

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Using technology to find a platonic parenting partner comes at a time when it seems harder than ever to meet anyone the old-fashioned way. As people spend more time building their careers, it can be difficult to forge relationships outside the office, where romance has become verboten. And as the cost of living has increased, it has become harder for many people to consider marriage or children until later in life—all factors that have resulted in a declining fertility rate in the U.S.

“When you meet someone on Match.com or Tinder, you can date someone for six months before you know whether the relationship is going anywhere. That’s fine when you’re younger, but when you’re in your mid-30s, you can’t wait for months to find out that person isn’t ready to have kids,” said Modamily founder Ivan Fatovic.

And it isn’t just single women like Ms. Andersen who are driving the demand for a tech solution to this modern problem.

“The alarm clock goes off for men as much as it does for women. You’d be surprised by the number of young, professional straight men who want to have kids,” said Patrick Harrison, co-founder of London-based PollenTree, the largest of the subscription-based co-parenting sites. (The service also connects people with egg and sperm donors.)

He said about 60% of the co-parenting seekers are women. The male clientele is evenly split between single gay men and heterosexual men, both seeking to be co-parents with women. There are also same-sex couples looking to have a mother or father figure in their child’s life.

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The methods of conception vary depending on the co-parents’ relationship and what they can afford, so they can range from natural conception to in vitro fertilization or intrauterine insemination.

[cyn]

I thought that’s what animal shelters were for! Someone wants companionship without whole lot of talk, concern for feelings, etc.