Mating Sites Surge As People Favor Platonic Parenthood

Matchmaking sites have been a huge hit since the rise of the internet, being able to set yourself up with someone with similar likes. Well what if their “like” is to become a parent with someone they don’t have to marry or live with?

Sites such as Pollentree.com offer such a service. On their website they allow singles or couples to find a “co-parent” or sperm donor. They state:

Finding a co-parent on PollenTree is easier – when you complete your PollenTree profile suitable co-parents are automatically suggested to you on your profile page. 

You can also search on PollenTree for co-parents. Search for a co-parent in your country or find someone local to you by searching by state/county and town/city. 

Their site also allows lesbian and gay couples to agree to be co-parents sharing parental duties between both couples.

You complete a profile and then checkmark your preferences. You must be over 21 and sign their terms and agreements.

Coparents.co.uk is another site reporting over 65,000 hook-ups from across the world. They state:

Families come in a multitude of forms: same-sex parented families, blended families, single-parents raising their children alone or co-parents sharing custody of their children. These are just a few examples of the many and varied possibilities. Whether you are single, in a same-sex relationship or part of a couple experiencing infertility, you too can become parents. Your first step will be to find alternative solutions to enable you to have a baby.

Coparent.com explains the fertilization process could be natural (having sex), artificial (sperm placed inside the vagina), or in-vitro fertilization (sperm and egg fertilize in a laboratory setting and then the embryo gets implanted in the female) using medical staff outside of the mating website.

Whether the co-parents choose to live close by or map out visiting schedules, once the child is born, varies per couple.

Those who might be looking for someone to “pollenate” with include those who are:

• recently divorced
• with someone who might not be able to conceive
• with a same-sex partner
• want to remain single without losing the experience of parenthood

The final reason is what we’re seeing a surge in. Many have come from divorced homes themselves, or been in relationships that went sour and prefer the single life. But the passion for parenthood may be mutually exclusive and hence people realize they can enjoy being a parent without having to live with someone they dislike.

However some feel being a single parent could be overwhelming and the partnership of having a “co-parent” could ease the path and prevent child neglect.

Debates continue over whether a mother and father cohabitating who dislike each other vs. a single parent home is better for a child.

But waning enthusiasm for marriage and risk of divorce is driving more people to avoid the traditional nuptials when they desire having children. The surge in co-parenting sites is evidence to this.

Daliah Wachs, MD, FAAFP is a nationally syndicated radio personality on GCN Network, KDWN, and iHeart Radio.