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Millennials Looking For Parenting Partners, Not Romance

By Hannah Grace | Update Date: Feb 24, 2017 09:00 AM EST

Millenials are staying single longer and giving birth at a slow rate according to recent surveys. Some are not looking for romance but still wants to be a parent.

In a Pew Research Center survey, love remains to be the top reason why Americans want to marry. Around 88 percent said that love is very important, while having children only constitute 49 percent. When millennials do not find love just yet but want to have children, they have the option to simply look for parenting partners.

Co-parenting is when couples who have kids continue to parent their kids even after break up. For some, co-parenting means absence of romance from the start, or platonic parenting.

Lauren Brim, 31 years old, is a typical millennial looking for a parenting partner and not romance. Brim thinks that she has everything. She was working hard for herself, had a good job and great friends. When she decided she wants to be a mother, she realized that she does not need to wait for a man to marry her and have kids.

Brim approached a fellow millennial ballet dancer who was also looking for a potential parenting partner. After months of talking about spirituality, schooling and medical care, they decided to co-parent, with an understanding that their relationship be void of romance. They now have a 20 month old daughter.

Not everyone can find a friend who is willing to be a parenting partner. A number of website for co-parenting has been established in the recent years like Modamily, Coparents and Family by Design. Ivan Fatovic, founder of Modamily, said he created the site to provide men and women, not just millennials, options in creating a family. With technology becoming the life of the party for the millennials, the traditional way of meeting people has drastically changed. 

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