We've all been there. We're dating a guy — let's call him John — and we're like, "Hey, John, I really like where this is going, maybe we should start talking about babies." And he's like, "You mean baby dogs?" And you're like, "No, I mean baby humans," and he's like, "Yeah, baby human dogs?" And suddenly you realize you want kids, while John is forever a frat boy. (This is all made up, by the way. If you're John and were in Sigma Nu at Southern Methodist University and graduated in 2011, this has nothing to do with you.)
So suddenly you've wasted six months in a relationship you thought was going to be your last, but you want kids and John wants to do another keg stand. You wish you would have known this sooner. If only ... If only ... there was an app that could match single people based on whether they wanted kids.
Wouldn't you know: There's heybaby, a dating app created for people who actually want kids.
Diko Daghlian, a co-founder of the app who is based in Texas, says casual dating has started to burn people out.
"It's almost like people become disposable in the dating world and there's not that many serious options out there," he says.
When you download heybaby, the app asks you to take a sort of pledge (something John knows about) and "agree" to the following statements: "I want or have kids," "I'm tired of the dating game" and "I'm ready to put flakes and hookup artists behind me.""It's almost like people become disposable in the dating world and there's not that many serious options out there," – heybaby co-founder Diko Daghlian
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"When you first sign on, you have a pledge, which basically says you're tired of flakes and burnout dating culture and you're looking for a deeper, real relationship," Daghlian says. "So it sets the tone right away."
From there, you fill out your name, birthday, gender, and ZIP code and answer whether you already have kids, if you want kids of your own or if you're cool with your partner already having kids. Upload a photo of yourself and you're reading to start dating.
Wait. Hold on. There are more questions. The app wants to get to know you so that potential matches can know whether you'd be a good match. The app asks you questions like how you feel about dirty clothes on the floor or whether you're a workaholic. You know, the important stuff.
When you're swiping on potential matches, your "score" with that person is shown in the bottom left-hand corner of your screen, tallying how many questions you agreed on. If you like someone, you hold down your finger on their picture for a few seconds until a red circle takes over.
"We tried to slow things down and make it not as fast and a disposable feeling as Tinder," Daghlian says.
Daghlian says the app has been downloaded 5,000 times and they are focusing on Texas right now, "where it seems to be resonating pretty nicely."
"It becomes a deal-breaker, and people that love each other break up, which is very sad and disheartening," Daghlian says. "But if you know right away, that just gets the kid question out of the way and then you're able to just date and get to know each other to see if it's someone you want to build a life with."
Happy swiping! Err, finger holding down-ing!
