Swipe Right for True Love

Despite what your eternally single friends might tell you, Tinder isn’t just for one-off dates. Since launching in 2012, the popular dating app has had a profound effect on millions of love lives around the world. With more than a million Tinder dates happening per week, it’s responsible for marriages, births, friendships, and some truly inspiring tales of love, like these.

Meeting and falling in love is just the start. A couple’s story goes beyond the smiling Facebook photos and perfect Instagram posts. Every couple has trials and hurdles to overcome. And in the case of Alana Duran and Lori Interlicchio, that hurdle was Alana’s need for a kidney transplant.

Diagnosed with Lupus at the age of 12, Alana (above right) was 25 when she matched with fellow New Yorker Lori, 22. The couple had only been dating for a couple of months when Lori revealed to her girlfriend—via a Tinder-inspired “It’s a match” print—that she was a transplant match. In early 2016, within a year of meeting, the couple successfully completed transplant surgery.

“It’s so funny how things work out. Both of us going into this relationship not expecting anything out of the ordinary,” Alana tells us. “Who knew that when we both swiped right on Tinder that day, that we would be more than just girlfriends, but that she would be my kidney donor too? My health has improved dramatically because of our Tinder relationship. Not only did I receive a kidney, I’ve been given a lot of love from Lori and her huge Italian family."

“I’m down a kidney,” Lori jokes, "but my health is probably the thing that has changed the least out of everything. I wake up happy every day because I’m with the woman of my dreams. I’m a significantly happier and healthier person with Alana in my life.”

“He had me at ‘tequila’,” Joanna Hofmann says of her now-husband Tinder match, Matt. That was in 2014, when the pair were 26 and 31 respectively. Three months after matching, Joanna quit her job, and she and her dog moved from LA to Santa Barbara to live with Matt. The couple, who married in Mexico last year, share a relationship that’s more than personal. It’s professional too.

Describing themselves as living a “mobile lifestyle,” the couple have made their home in a renovated Airstream caravan as well as on a boat, and have turned these adventurous ways into a mutual career.

“Our lives together have been anything but traditional,” Joanna tells us. “Owning two companies together has allowed us to adopt a lifestyle of freedom that we absolutely love. We live a small-space, mobile lifestyle and have gotten to know each other intimately. We’ve been travelling all over the world together and working remotely from exciting destinations from Portugal and Italy to cozy cabins in Montana and Northern California.”

“We really feel like we hit the jackpot in finding our life partners as well as amazing business partners. We are both so passionate about our mission to provide a sustainable alternative to traditional housing and inspire people to live an intentional life. Sharing the entrepreneurial spirit with each other makes for a very exciting and often unpredictable life, and we're loving it.”

"Hey man.” That’s all it takes to introduce yourself. When, in 2013, 21-year-old Max Landwirth came out as gay, he was extremely shy. He found it too intimidating to talk to guys in person. Through Tinder, though, he had a chance to truly express himself. He quickly met Mark Vidal, 25, who was going through a similar experience.

“Tinder gave us a safe way to discover who we are,” Max tells us. “Prior to Tinder, we were on parallel coming-out paths. We both had previous long-term girlfriends and had ended those relationships with the intention of living authentic lives. Meeting on Tinder gave us a platform to pursue our new reality.”

“I had only recently come out, and Mark was still not out to his friends and family. Neither of us had the courage nor social skills to walk up to a guy and start flirting. It was like we were learning how to date all over again. Tinder took away that first barrier of doubt and apprehension.”

“Since meeting each other on Tinder, life for both of us has been filled with happiness and fulfilment. Even our relationships with family and friends have blossomed to new heights because we are now able to fully be ourselves. We have been together four years now and are incredibly excited to tie the knot in June surrounded by all our loved ones.”

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