In the Season 1 episode Ted signs up for a matchmaking service (suggested by Marshall and Lily and tricked by Barney into doing it) called Love Solutions to find his "perfect match". The matchmaking service originally finds his chances for finding his soul mate are zero and that the closest match to Ted is a woman who is already engaged.

However, in the episode Milk, Ted is called back to Love Solutions with news that they have found his "perfect match", meeting all the standards on his personal checklist for his "perfect woman". They set up the date, but Ted pushes it back to fix a flat tire on Marshall's Fiero all the way out in Dutchess County. Lily abandons Ted to go to her art fellowship interview in New Haven, Connecticut. Luckily, Robin picks up Ted and bring him to his date. However, he stands her up, realizing that (at that time) he didn't want the perfect woman - he wanted Robin.

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Known Facts

While Ted is reading her Love Solutions file in Milk, Future Ted lists off the following (the majority of which cover his entire "perfect woman" checklist):

She liked dogs.

She spent her summers in North Carolina .

. She played bass guitar.

She did The New York Times crossword.

She played Tennis.

She liked old movies.

Her favorite food was Lasagna.

Her favorite book was Love in the Time of Cholera

Her favorite singer was Otis Redding .

. She wanted two kids: a boy and a girl.

Ted recaps other aspects of her file his future self didn't mention when riding in the Metro News 1 van with Robin to his date (this discussion is based off of Ted's "perfect woman" checklist):

"She's 28, just like me...

...College-educated..."

"She's looking to get married...?" (asked by Robin)

Facts that might make her The Mother

In Season 4, Future Ted briefly mentions that The Mother was in the class he was teaching initially on his first day at Columbia University . This could be a nod to the "perfect match", who is also college-educated and/or could have enrolled again for higher studies. ( The Leap ​)

. This could be a nod to the "perfect match", who is also college-educated and/or could have enrolled again for higher studies. In Season 5, Ted is dating an Econ student, Cindy, whose roommate is in fact The Mother, owns a bass guitar and plays in a band. This could be a nod to the "perfect match", who also plays bass guitar. ( Girls Versus Suits )

In Season 8, Ted is reading Love in the Time of Cholera while waiting at the Farhampton train station as well as when The Mother arrives at the train station. This could be a nod to the "perfect match", whose favorite book is Love in the Time of Cholera . The Mother also takes a bass guitar out of the trunk of the taxi when she is dropped off at the Farhampton train station where Ted is also waiting at after Barney and Robin's Wedding. It is also revealed that The Mother's band was hired to play at Barney and Robin's wedding, supporting the nod to the bass-playing "perfect match". ( Farhampton , Band or DJ? )

while waiting at the Farhampton train station as well as when The Mother arrives at the train station. This could be a nod to the "perfect match", whose favorite book is The Mother also takes a bass guitar out of the trunk of the taxi when she is dropped off at the Farhampton train station where Ted is also waiting at after Barney and Robin's Wedding. It is also revealed that The Mother's band was hired to play at Barney and Robin's wedding, supporting the nod to the bass-playing "perfect match". Penny and Luke are a boy and a girl. The "perfect match" could be a nod to this pre-existing fact.

When Ted proposes to The Mother "Try A Little Tenderness" by Otis Redding plays. ( The Lighthouse ​)

Facts that make it unlikely that she is The Mother

In Season 1 (2005) episode 21, Milk , Ted says his match is 28 and college-educated. Yet, The Mother is seen celebrating her 21st birthday in 2005 in How Your Mother Met Me.

, Ted says his match is 28 and college-educated. Yet, The Mother is seen celebrating her 21st birthday in 2005 in In Season 5 (2009), The Mother was sitting in Ted's first class in Architecture, where he mistakenly went to the wrong classroom and it is an undergraduate, upper division Economics course. It's unlikely that a 32 year old, college-educated woman would be enrolled in this type of course. < Edit: She enrolls later in life after an encounter with the Naked Man.

In Season 9 (2013), The Mother says she goes on hiatus from dating from 2005-2012. Max dies in episode 1 (2005). She doesn't date again until she meets Louis.