Why You May Not Want to Be in Love With the Father of Your Child

It just might be better for your kid

You’ve wanted a child all your life, and here you are — in your 30s with no romantic partner and few, if any prospects, and you’re aware that it’s going to get harder if you wait much longer. The last thing you want to do is have a child on your own. What can you do? You can forget about having a biological child or you can do something somewhat radical — look for a man to co-parent with, not love or live with.

Platonic parenting is a growing trend, thanks to the rise of subscription-based websites such as PollenTree.com and Modamily.com, according to a recent Wall Street Journal article, which match would-be mothers with would-be fathers, no love involved. The couple featured in the article actually did fall in love, but rather than rush into tying the knot— their baby is due in June — they are drafting what my book, The New I Do: Reshaping Marriage for Skeptics, Realists and Rebels, considers a parenting prenup, a legal contract that lays out their parenting responsibilities as well as how they will raise their child, from schooling, to discipline, to religion and more.

It’s hardly a new concept: gays and lesbians have been turning to all sorts of creative ways to have biological children, including co-parenting…