Dateability Creates a More Inclusive Dating Experience for People With Disabilities

The dating app helps users overcome the hurdle of finding the right way to tell a romantic prospect about their health condition. 
Written by Cassidy Ritter
October 26, 2022Updated: February 14, 2023
Dateability co-founders Alexa Child (left) and Jacqueline Child (right) stand outside
Dateability was co-founded by Alexa Child, left, and Jacqueline Child. | Photo: Dateability

Sure the latest initiatives from the Teslas, Apples and Googles of the industry tend to dominate the tech news space — and with good reason. Still, the tech titans aren’t the only ones bringing innovation to the sector.

In an effort to highlight up-and-coming startups, Built In has launched The Future 5 across eight major U.S. tech hubs. Each quarter, we will feature five tech startups, nonprofits or entrepreneurs in each of these hubs who just might be working on the next big thing. Read our round-up of Colorado’s rising startups from last quarter here.

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Dating isn’t easy. In today’s world, where dating often begins online or through an app, users are vulnerable from the minute their profile is viewed to their first in-person date. Jacqueline Child is familiar with this process and has landed several bad dates due to something out of her control.

Child has struggled with dating due to her chronic illness and disabilities, something that began when she was in high school. Now 28, many of Child’s relationships have ended due to her health.

“The guys got scared or their friends and family told them not to get involved with her. She was made to feel like a burden,” Alexa Child, Jaqueline Child’s sister, told Built In via email. “Every few years she would go on the internet and search for dating apps for disabled people and found that there weren’t any legitimate ones.”

That’s where Dateability comes in. The Denver-based dating app is specifically designed for people with disabilities and chronic illnesses. Dateability co-founder Alexa Child said the app is open to everyone, including people without disabilities, as long as they “share the same values and respect for the disabled and chronically ill communities.”

“Disabilities and chronic illnesses should not be stigmatized. We know that people with disabilities want love, are able to give and receive love and deserve love,” Alexa Child said.

Our goal for Dateability is to change the dating experiences for those with disabilities and chronic illnesses.”

Alexa and Jaqueline Child launched Dateability, a mobile and web-based app, last month to make dating accessible to everyone. The decision to launch the startup came about after Jacqueline Child had a feeding tube installed last October. 

“We both kind of panicked and wondered what that meant for her dating life,” Alexa Child said. “Since she can’t hike or do most of the typical outdoorsy Colorado stuff, she would go out to dinner with prospective partners. Now she would have to explain to them that she doesn’t eat three meals a day and gets her nutrients from [a] formula while she sleeps. This was the catalyst for Dateability. We decided to take matters into our own hands.”

Similar to other dating apps Dateability profiles include a picture of the user, their interests and a mini bio. What makes the startup different is the Dateability Deets section on each user’s profile. Here, users select from a list of options that describe their health, which allows them to say if they are neurodivergent, have a chronic illness or indicate their use of a wheelchair, emotional support animal or a permanent medical device.

Two screenshots of Jacqueline Child's Dateability profile
Jacqueline Child’s Dateability profile is captured in two screenshots. | Image: Dateability / Built In

Alexa Child said this feature can ease users’ anxiety and hesitation when it comes to developing relationships and finding love. It also helps users with disabilities overcome the hurdle of finding the right time and way to tell a romantic prospect about their health condition. 

Free for all users, Dateability is currently available in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. The startup plans to expand globally as its scales. Alexa Child said they are also looking to launch a subscription model in the future, but a free version will always be available. 

“Our goal for Dateability is to change the dating experiences for those with disabilities and chronic illnesses,” Alexa Child said. “We hope to be a mainstream dating app and a safe place known to facilitate meaningful relationships, whether they are romantic relationships or platonic.”

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