The show is the third attempt at a How I Met Your Mother spin-off; an earlier 2014 CBS pilot titled How I Met Your Dad did not move forward before this Hulu series was developed.

Isaac Aptaker and Elizabeth Berger were originally attached to write the spin-off pilot in 2016 with Carter Bays and Craig Thomas as executive producers, but the project was put on hold after Aptaker and Berger were promoted to showrunners on This Is Us.

Before Aptaker and Berger's version was revived, Fox attempted the spin-off a second time in 2017 with writer Alison Bennett under the same working title, with Bays and Thomas again attached as executive producers, but that version also fell through.

Brandon Micheal Hall was originally cast in a recurring role in August 2021 but exited a few weeks later due to a scheduling conflict, leading to Daniel Augustin being cast as his replacement.

Kim Cattrall was cast in November 2021 to play the future version of Sophie, narrating the story to her son from the year 2050, mirroring the framing device of the original series.

Several actors from the original How I Met Your Mother reprised their roles in cameo appearances, including Kyle MacLachlan as The Captain, Cobie Smulders as Robin Scherbatsky, and Neil Patrick Harris as Barney Stinson.

The series won four Creative Arts Emmy Awards despite receiving mixed critical reviews, holding a 36% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes for season one and 33% for season two.

How I Met Your Father was canceled after two seasons in September 2023, despite season two being ranked the most-streamed original series in the U.S. for one week in early 2023 according to Whip Media's TV Time.