Is elective co-parenting good?

RESEARCH: CHILDREN OF PARENTS NOT IN A ROMANTIC RELATIONSHIP ARE JUST AS HAPPY

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It's become completely normal to find a romantic partner through a bit of swiping on your phone. But could the same be about to happen for parenting? "Elective co-parenting" involves two or more people choosing to have and raise a child together outside of a romantic relationship.

And if this becomes commonplace, would it be good or bad? A research, published in Reproductive Biomedicine Online, suggests these families actually function just as well.

Elective co-parenting is not new - it has a long history within the LGBTQ+ community. What is new is the rise in heterosexual prospective parents and the use of websites - such as Pride Angel, Modamily and PollenTree - to find a co-parent.

Why not wait for "the one" or go it alone? The research has shown that cisgender heterosexual elective co-parents talk about the desire to create and improve the "traditional" nuclear family unit of two involved parents raising their genetically related child.

For some parents, elective co-parenting is plan B, while for others the appeal is shared parental responsibilities with more freedom and equality. Some parents felt co-parenting could offer greater stability than parenting within a romantic relationship, as the latter could end in divorce.