For Bernie Sinclaire, co-parenting three young children in New York City feels like a dream — largely because she’s doing it alongside another mom instead of a man.
Her “mommune,” a shared living arrangement where single mothers split the costs and responsibilities of raising children, is a “Barbie Dream House”-like haven. She lives there with her two sons, Marcos, 9, and Nico, 4, in a pink-hued household alongside fellow mom Anabelle Gonzalez and her daughter Sophia, 7.
Sinclaire and Gonzalez describe their setup as a kind of modern-day fairytale — one with “no Prince Charming required” — as they join a growing number of solo mothers choosing to raise their children together rather than on their own.
“Me and my best friend are two single moms, we live in New York City and we’re raising our kids under one roof,” Sinclaire, 38, told The Post.
“It’s easier than living with a man,” she joked, while emphasizing that their unconventional setup isn’t “anti-men.” Instead, she described it as a decision rooted in “being radically honest about all the things single mothers have to consider when it comes to raising kids.”
“What’s the best choice — trying to find a trustworthy man who’s funny, able to pick up his own socks and willing to love you and your kids, or living with your best friend who you know is a great and trustworthy single mom too?” she said. “I chose my best friend.”
She and Gonzalez, 39, both teachers at an all-girls school in the Bronx, decided to cohabitate and co-parent about two years ago following their respective breakups.
The pair now live in a three-bedroom, two-bath, 1,200-square-foot apartment in Manhattan’s upscale Hamilton Heights, a block from the Hudson River. Their building includes amenities such as a gym, playroom, and laundry facilities. Their children, all under 10, share a close-knit, sibling-like dynamic in what they affectionately call a “kidsune” household.
Sinclaire says she and Gonzalez are building a dream life for themselves and their children in a “Barbie”-inspired apartment in New York City.
“They came up with the name ‘kidsune’ after we first introduced the idea of a mommune to them,” Sinclaire explained. “They call each other brother and sister, they love playing together, bickering together like siblings. Anabelle’s daughter was an only child before, now she’s so proud to have brothers. And my boys now have a whole new element of playing and engaging with girls because they have Sophia.”
Sinclaire believes their unconventional arrangement is what’s best for both families.
“What is best for kids is a loving home with mothers who are economically stable,” she said. “As a teacher of 14 years, I can’t afford New York City rent in a place where my kids get their own bedroom on my own. That’s impossible on my salary.”
“But if I want my kids to have their own space, if I want to be able to take them on vacations and allow them to participate in afterschool programs, I need to be in a dual-income home,” she continued. “And that’s what we have. It works for us.”
It’s a mother-of-all setups.
With the cost of living at record highs and the prospect of finding a long-term partner increasingly uncertain, moms like Sinclaire and Gonzalez are forming women-led co-living households across the country.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, there are more than 10.9 million one-parent families with children under 18, and roughly 80% of those households are headed by mothers.
Single mothers across the United States are forming so-called “mommunes,” pooling resources to share the costs, demands, and rewards of raising children under one roof.
As the estimated cost of raising a child in the U.S. approaches $300,000, according to recent reports, many single parents say combining households has become a practical way to ease financial pressure and improve day-to-day stability.
In Jacksonville, Florida, Kristin Batykefer and Tessa Gilder built a mommune shortly after the pandemic and following their respective divorces in the early 2020s. The pair have frequently highlighted the benefits of their arrangement online, once writing, “Life. Is. Good. Baby!” in a social media post.
Similarly, Shannon and Cheyanne, best friends and co-parents based in Nevada, have shared their experience living together and raising children as a team.
“Life is easier with a village,” Shannon captioned a TikTok video that has since amassed more than 9.5 million views.
“We both very much like men,” she said of her and Cheyanne’s sexuality, “but two women splitting [the] house and kids [and] chores has proven easier than with men.”
Sinclaire and Gonzalez have echoed comparable sentiments, reflecting a broader trend of single mothers choosing cooperative living arrangements online and in real life.
“Society tells us that if we want to be single mothers, we either have to be really wealthy or prepared to live on the edge financially—relying on child support, struggling with childcare costs, and handling everything alone,” she said in an Instagram testimonial. “But we said ‘No.’ We said ‘Matriarchy.’”
“We said we’ll keep the independence of single motherhood while maintaining a dual-income household. We said we’ll share domestic labor through sisterhood. We said we’ll center our children while also prioritizing our own needs,” she continued. “Sometimes the weight of motherhood still sneaks up on us, but we always have the space to acknowledge it, manage it, and put it in its place.”
