Dating can be difficult for anybody — especially more so for single parents. Bringing up a child is no easy task, especially when doing it alone. It is extremely difficult for single parents to find time for themselves. It is even more difficult for them to be able to establish and nurture a romantic relationship with another person. It is for this reason that many single parents simply remove themselves from the dating scene. They seem to take it as a given that dating and single parenthood do not mix. Is DatingforParents the answer?

— Pros and Cons of DatingforParents —

Pros

• Focused on single parents
• Backed by the Cupid and Together Networks with over 20 million active users
• Detailed user profiles

Cons

• Free membership is extremely limited in functionality
• Most matchmaking results come from the larger network

— In-Depth DatingforParents Review —

Incredibly, even though there are dating sites for every niche in imaginable, the single parent market has been continuously underserved. Yes, dating sites serving a general audience frequently have a sub-category for single parents in their profile building menus, but their efforts go no further. When single parents use a general dating site they are lost in the shuffle of millions of other users. The chances of coming across another single parent looking for a serious relationship are slim.

In the midst of this apparent service vacuum, there is a tool that a small number of well-informed single parents have been using since 2005 to find relationships. It is an online dating site known as DatingForParents.com. Owned and operated by the Together Network — the same media company that runs Cupid.com — it has the support of a solid technological framework and a parent company that has nearly two decades in the online dating industry.

With such backing, we were at a loss as to why DatingForParents continues to fly so low under the radar. At first, we thought that it was due to poor performance. However, the few genuine users of the site that we have come across have praised its effectiveness. The only way to determine why DatingForParents is so unknown — and more importantly — gauge its true performance, was to conduct a full review of the site. Here are the results.

— First Impression —

When we first visited the DatingForParents welcome page we were surprised. The design looked antiquated. It appeared to of had been professionally designed, but with a look that was over a decade old. This, quite honestly, didn’t seem to fit the mold for a dating site that was owned and operated by one of the largest dating companies in the industry. As we continued to scratch our heads, we read through the information provided on the DatingForParents welcome page. It described in a clear, but unexciting way, the overall purpose of the site — helping single parents find romance.

— Registration —

Registering on DatingForParents starts on the site’s welcome page. You are required to enter some basic information such as your date of birth and location. You then must check a box agreeing to the Together Network’s terms of use and then you can click on the purple “Join for Free” button to continue. The remainder of the registration process consists of multiple pages requiring you to add additional information. This consists of what you are looking for in a relationship, but primarily focuses on building your own profile. If you are familiar with Cupid.com, this process — inclusive of the look and layout of the questionnaire screens — will seem very familiar to you.

You will be asked to provide information regarding your personality, demeanor, physical attributes and outlook for a relationship. For some, the questionnaire my feel a bit obtrusive. In our opinion, it does get a bit personal, but being thorough in your responses does have merit. It is the answers to these questions that are used to determine your potential matches. The data is stored and algorithmically analyzed by servers of the Together Network. As such, your information is fully protected in terms of privacy.

Toward the end of the registration process, you will have the option to record and upload a profile video. This should be brief and should display your personality along with some words about who you are and the type of person that you are looking for. Keep in mind that to many users on the site, this profile video will become the primary mechanism for developing an opinion about you.

— Features —

After completing the registration process, you can enter the members’ area. In terms of design and the features that are present, it looks like a “template” dating site. In other words, DatingForParents rests on a framework that is shared by many other sister dating sites. The only thing that is different is that the logo is obviously changed to match the site that you are on. In terms of matchmaking, this means that as a remember of DatingForParents, the site will use your search criteria and first offer you search results consisting of other DatingForParents members. However, you will also be served with profiles of other members on the much larger Cupid.com network. That means, that depending on how many DatingForParents members are located in the area that you are searching in, many times the majority of the search results will be made up from the 20 million user base of the Cupid.com and Together Networks.

The features on the site are standard. You have a messaging function that allows you to exchange messages with other members. The search function allows you to customize your search criteria based on location, age, personality, and gender. If you prefer to have a matchmaking algo do the heavy-lifting, you can choose to follow the match recommendations from DatingForParents. If you are timid about online dating or just shy in general, “ice breakers” are available for you to send to other members that you are interested in to facilitate the start of a conversation.

It is important to note that while basic registration is free — it limits you on the features that you can use. In order to contact members, engage in live chats and view profile videos — you must upgrade to a paid membership. A one-month membership costs $24.99. This can be lowered to an average of $17.99 per month if you pay for three months in advance.