Online dating for single parents

January 1st, 2009

Internet dating as a single parent can be tough. Nowadays, more and more dating sites let you specify whether or not you have or want children, but also whether you’re open to dating people who already have children. Unfortunately, on a standard dating site, many people will either choose not to be shown profiles of people with children in the first place, or be put off when they find out someone has children.

There are, however, a few sites particularly geared towards single parents, so if you are part of a single parent family, you may want to give these a go. People who date on these sites are either parents themselves or are open to the possibility of dating single parents, meaning you won’t have to worry about anyone being put off.

Sites covered in this post (full reviews below):

1. Dating for Parents.com – UK’s most popular single parent dating site
2. SingleParentsMingle.com – a slick USA/international site
3. Kids No Object and Parents Already – two smaller, cheaper UK dating sites

Reviews

• Dating for Parents.com

  Probably the biggest UK single parent dating site, this site had a facelift last year which, frankly, is far from an improvement. Despite its lame appearance, the site is actually not bad and offers live chat as well as messaging. There are plenty of members here from all over the UK and there is a decent search function that lets you search by many odd factors (such as eye colour), though, as often is the case on dating sites, not by interests. This can be annoying, because the only thing you know you have in common with members on the site is the fact that you have kids. The site makes you complete your profile blurb before letting you search, which annoyed me as well, but if you’re just signing up for a free profile to check it out, you can get around this by typing gibberish into the boxes. Just remember to go back and change this to useful stuff if you decide to stay! The subscription rates are pretty standard for the UK – £19.99 for a month, though you can get a weekly subscription for £5.99 or a 4 day subscription by mobile phone for a fiver to try it out.

• SingleParentsMingle.com

  Officially an international dating site, but in reality only the USA (and maybe CA) are the ones best served by members and even there, some areas are distinctly low on members. It’s worth a try, even if you are in the UK (some members are on there) but wherever you are, make sure you use your free account to run a good search first, before you pay any subscription fees or you may be disappointed. The site offers many handy features, including basic two way matching, message boards and live chat. There is also a good search facility with keyword search. Overall, it is a well-designed site that charges the standard rates, so it’s just a matter of seeing whether your area is covered.

• Kids No Object and Parents Already are two smaller, cheaper UK sites that are definitely worth a look. Parents Already is more professional-looking and, personally, I also find it more user-friendly. It charges £8.99 for 2 weeks or £16.95 for 3 months and offers additional features such as online chat and message boards. KNO charges £16.95 for 3 months, £29.95 for 6 months or £49.95 for a “no time limit membership” (conditions apply). It offers chat, message boards and a phone redirect service you can use to make safe phone calls.

Special issues

• Depending on your lifestyle, circumstances and personal preference, you may still want to choose a dating site that is not particularly geared towards single parents and simply specify you have kids. For example, dating on a niche site that caters for a particular lifestyle choice (such as vegetarianism, a particular religion, etc.) might offer you more matches based on what you find important. Casual dating sites can offer short-term dating options if you are not looking to settle down again, while marriage/serious dating sites can offer the opportunity to meet only people who are looking for long-term committment. Any of these may ultimately offer you more choice than limiting yourself to a parents-only site.
• Safety first: If you have small children, it’s more important than ever to follow the online dating safety rules and quickly get rid of anyone who displays any of the danger signs.

Related posts:

1. Online dating sites with video chat
2. Dating – don’t just keep it online
3. Online Dating Tips: Beware of feature madness
4. Single on Valentine’s day? Oh my!
5. Muslim dating sites – reviews and list

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