The Nobody Wants Script

“I come with too much, ask for too much, and offer too little — no one is choosing someone with children.” Buunk et al. (2008) found having children reduces partner interest in short-term contexts, not long-term ones. The worst-case belief doesn't match the evidence — it matches the fear.

• You edit your profile or your first conversation to delay revealing you have children.
• Every silence or unmatch gets filed under 'the kids are the reason.'
• You've already written the ending — alone — before the date starts.

• 01.“Nobody will want someone with children”
• 02.“I come with too much baggage to be dateable”
• 03.“They'll leave once they actually meet the kids”
• 04.“Being divorced means I'm damaged goods”
• 05.“They'll do the math on my kids' ages and lose interest”
• 06.“Dating feels like running a covert op around custody weekends”
• 07.“They'll swipe past the minivan in my photos”
• 08.“I'm the discount version of who I was before the divorce”

• Having children screens out short-term noise. That's a filter, not a disqualifier.
• The people who leave over 'you have kids' were not the people who stay anyway.
• I reveal my kids on my timeline — not as a confession, as a fact.