You want kids. They should too.
A dating site for people who want children, not people who are merely open to it. Family intent is a primary tag on every profile. Filter to Yes with one click and find someone looking forward to being a good mother or a good father. No algorithm hiding you. No endless "we'll see." Just real people looking for a real partner and a real future.
Founding members join from anywhere. Help us build something better.
The stakes are real
Wanting kids isn't a preference. It's a life path.
And dating someone who doesn't share it isn't a small disagreement. It's years you can't get back.
I'm not building this because I think "wants kids" should be another checkbox buried under height and zodiac sign. I'm building it because I've watched people lose years to partners who said "maybe," "we'll see," or "I'm open to it," and never meant it.
Wanting children isn't like preferring hiking or liking Thai food. It's one of the biggest decisions you'll ever make. You can't compromise on it. You can't meet in the middle. It's not "one yes and one no." It's two yeses or it doesn't happen.
For a lot of us, myself included, "open to it" isn't good enough. I don't want a partner who's tolerating the idea of kids. I want someone who's looking forward to being a good mother. Someone who's looking for a man who wants to be a good father. Not a preference. A calling.
And yet every mainstream dating app treats it like an awkward footnote. Hinge has a toggle. Tinder buries it. Most people don't read it anyway. So you match, you chat, you get invested, and three months later you find out they "aren't sure yet." Or worse: they were sure, just not with you, and they didn't want to scare you off early.
The dating fears nobody talks about
- Am I wasting my childbearing years on someone who'll never come around?
- If I bring up kids on date two, will I seem "too intense"?
- If I wait until date six, will I be "too invested to leave"?
- They said "open to it," but do they mean "yes" or "if you really want to"?
- Will I end up choosing between the person I love and the family I always imagined?
For people who want kids, that isn't a minor compatibility issue. It's terrifying. And swipe apps don't help you figure any of this out before you're already emotionally invested.
You shouldn't have to play chicken with your own timeline. You shouldn't have to guess whether "maybe" means "yes in two years" or "no but I don't want to say it yet." You deserve to see family intent up front, highlighted on every profile, before you invest a single evening.
The apps weren't built for this either. Here's what else they get wrong. โ
Sound familiar?
Three months in. Still don't know if they want kids.
If you've tried mainstream apps or even "serious relationship" sites, you already know the pattern.
"Maybe" is a full-time job
They say they're "open to it." You spend months trying to figure out if that means yes, no, or "convince me." Meanwhile your timeline keeps moving.
Algorithm roulette
You're a serious person looking for a serious partner. The app shows you to people who want hookups, or buries your profile entirely. You have no idea if anyone who wants a family can even see you.
Kids talk = too intense
On most apps, bringing up children early feels aggressive. So you wait. And waiting is how people lose years to partners who were never going to say yes.
Primary highlighted tag
Wants Kids, front and center on every profile
On Pretty Good Dating, family intent isn't buried in a bio you'll never read. Wants Kids is one of the primary highlighted tags on every profile card, right alongside distance and location.
You see "Wants Kids: Yes" before you read a word of their bio. Marriage intent gets its own callout too. No guessing. No surprises on date-five.
One click
Filter to people who said Yes
Click the Wants Kids filter and select Yes. That's it. You're now browsing only people who want children, not people who are open to it if you push hard enough.
These are the people looking forward to being parents. Women who want to be good mothers. Men who want to be good fathers. People looking for a partner who feels the same way. Pair it with marriage intent, age, distance, and everything else.
Full family picture
Filter by Has Kids too
Already have children? Open to a partner with kids? Filter by whether they have kids now, full-time, part-time, or grown, so you find someone whose life stage actually fits yours.
Built with you in mind
What makes this different for family-minded dating
Not a kids-only app, but an intentional dating site where starting a family isn't awkward to talk about.
Kids and marriage, upfront
Wants kids, has kids, and marriage intent are on every profile. Highlighted tags and callouts, not buried in a bio you'll never read.
Deal breakers that matter
Mark "Doesn't want kids" as a deal breaker. Filter them out. Your time is finite.
Mutual intent, not spam
Men send chat requests (5 per day), women accept (5 per day). If someone reaches out, they chose you specifically, and they can already see you want kids.
Real humans only
Every account is manually reviewed before it goes live. Phone verification and a small paywall keep bots and scammers out.
No more guessing
"Is anyone who wants a family even seeing my profile?"
On swipe apps, decent people get buried by algorithms optimized for engagement, not relationships. On Pretty Good Dating, you get stats that mean something. You can see who viewed your profile. You get counts on how many people saved you. And clear numbers on your chat requests: sent, accepted, declined, your accept rate.
It's mostly aggregate, not a play-by-play of every interaction. But you're not flying blind anymore.
"I filtered to 'Wants Kids: Yes' and could actually see who was looking. Small numbers, but they were the right people."
We need you
Help us launch for people who don't want to wait forever
I'm building this for people who are done wasting years on "maybe." But I need early members to prove intentional dating works. Only 1,000 founding spots. Once they're gone, they're gone.
Permanent recognition as an OG member
Everyone will know you were here from the start
I'm Sheldon. I built Pretty Good Dating because swipe apps optimize for engagement, not outcomes, and the people who suffer most are the ones with real deadlines. Biological clocks. Aging parents who want grandkids. A vision of family that isn't going away just because the apps make it awkward to say so.
This isn't a co-parenting platform or a sperm donor marketplace. It's a dating site for people who want to find a partner first and build a family together. If that's you, join as a founding member and help us prove that intentional dating works.
Common questions
Family minded dating FAQ
Straight answers about how Pretty Good Dating works for people who want kids.
Is Pretty Good Dating only for people who want kids?
No. We're a general intentional dating site where family-minded people are especially welcome. People who don't want kids can join, but everyone states their intent upfront, and you can filter to "Yes" only or set "Doesn't want kids" as a deal breaker.
How is this different from Heybaby and other "want kids" dating apps?
Most kids-focused apps are swipe-based niche clones with small user pools. Pretty Good Dating has no swiping, no algorithm hiding your profile, chat request limits instead of spam, manual human approval, and honest stats. It's a values-first dating site, not a kids-only walled garden.
Can I filter to show only people who want children?
Yes. One click on the Wants Kids filter and select "Yes." You're browsing only people who want children, not people who are merely open to it. You can also filter by Has Kids and set "Doesn't want kids" as a deal breaker.
How is this different from Modamily?
Modamily focuses on co-parenting, known donors, and non-romantic family building. Pretty Good Dating is for people who want to find a romantic partner first, someone who shares their timeline and values, and build a family together.
When should I bring up wanting kids while dating?
On Pretty Good Dating, you don't have to. It's already on the profile as a primary highlighted tag. Wants Kids appears prominently on every profile card alongside distance and location. No awkward conversation on date-five. No guessing if they read your bio.
Is Pretty Good Dating free?
The first 1,000 founding members join free with lifetime perks including permanent founding badges. Top early members get extended free access and special recognition.
Heybaby shut down? Here's what we're building instead โ ยท Read the blog post
Ready to date someone who wants what you want?
Join our founding members. First 1,000 users get lifetime perks.
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