I’ve always said that if I wanted to hear the pitter-patter of little feet, I’d put shoes on my cats.

Do I hate kids? Nah.  But as a teacher, I have upwards of 120 kids in my immediate care every weekday and the occasional evening, weekend, or trip to Europe.  Do I really need my own offspring at home?  Nah.

But that’s just my opinion.

There are others who are just dying to become parents or who are already proud parents.  The’re on the online dating scene.   So what’s a childfree person to do wading through a sea of potential parents?

Evaluate Your Commitment Level

Are you 100% committed to being childfree or do you have the philosophy of “Maybe I’ll have kids, but a LONG TIME FROM NOW!!“?   This is an important bit of soul-searching that needs to be done before jumping headfirst into the dating pool.  It’s not fair to be in a relationship with someone who really wants children if you plan on swinging the other way.

Make the Right Choice

Match.com has a few options to choose from when it comes to potential offspring:

• Someday - My biological clock is very quiet, but still ticks.
• Probably Not - Sometimes I think about the clock, but mostly I just shove it in a closet.
• I don’t want kids - Biological clock be damned!!

I’m going to be honest with you.  Choosing one of the latter two options will get you fewer dates.  However, if you want a long-term partner, then honesty here is crucial.

Don’t Add a Red Flag

Once your childfree tag is on your profile stats, don’t mention it in your profile text.

“But e,” you say, “What if I get emails from girls who didn’t read the “no kids” part?“

Simple.  You write a thanks but no thanks email and explain that you don’t want children.

The problem with adding it to your profile text is that you can come off as a child-hater.  Now, you may in fact BE a child-hater, but that’s not something you want to advertise in your profile.  If you happen to find a kindred soul, you can get a gingerbread cottage in the woods and cook little boys and girls in your cauldron, but for now, let’s keep it tame.

Use your profile to highlight your strengths and give the girl a reason to write you an email.  There’s plenty of other interesting things about you - let’s hear ‘em!

Still at a loss about writing your profile?  I can help!  Stay tuned for the next installment of Childfree By Choice on how to optimize your Search results to find the kind of people who share your views.

If you’re a geek who has/wants/loves children, you should definitely check out Amy’s blog - Geek Parenting.