Seattle startup launches Bumble-like app for expectant mothers and households trying to undertake

Seattle startup PairTree on Thursday announced the launch of an app to more easily connect expectant mothers with families from across the U.S. who are interested in adoption.

Birth mothers often lack access to desktop or laptop computers, making cell phones and apps their main avenue for interacting with adopting families, according to PairTree. The app will make those connections easier.

“PairTree is one platform that provides all the services that families need to navigate private domestic adoption in the U.S.,” said founder and CEO Erin Quick, who presented on stage at the GeekWire Summit last week in Seattle as part of GeekWire’s Elevator Pitch competition.

Compared to conventional adoption processes, Quick said, her startup offers its services to adopting families for a fraction of the cost and on a quicker timeline while avoiding potentially discriminatory practices. Expectant mothers use PairTree for free, and the platform additionally donates 5% of its net profits to organizations that provide ongoing assistance for birth moms.

Since launching in 2020, more than 4,500 adoptive families and 450 expecting moms have registered on the PairTree platform. Roughly 5 million U.S. families consider adoption each year, said Quick, who started the company following her own family’s challenging path to the adoption of two children.

About 90% of adoptions today are “open,” which means there is ongoing contact between the birth mother and adoptive family. Quick said that reality makes it even more important that the two parties make a compatible match.

The new app provides expectant moms “more choice and control over her process than ever before,” Quick said.