For Women’s History Month, let’s take a trip back to 1985, when a book for lesbians considering parenthood—one of the first books about queer parents—offered some wisdom that still feels relevant today.
As 2025 winds to a close, let’s look back at some of my favorite posts of the year—a year in which Mombian celebrated two decades of offering news, information, resources, and opinions for and about LGBTQ parents.
Out just in time for Trans Awareness Week, but bound to be a long-treasured resource, is an insightful, powerful, and necessary anthology that brings together essays, interviews, and roundtable discussions by and with 18 trans, nonbinary, and gender-expansive birthing people, who share their experiences with conception, pregnancy, fertility treatment, birth, loss, early parenthood, and more.
Today marks the theatrical release of Fairyland, based on Alysia Abbott’s memoir about growing up with a single gay dad during the 1970s and 80s. Go see it—then read the book and these other memoirs by people who grew up with queer parents in roughly the same era.
Just in time for Banned Books Week, the Mombian Database of LGBTQ Family Books now has 1,900+ entries! Come see what’s new for kids 0 to 12 and for grown-ups, search and filter by topic and identity, and read my in-depth reviews. Even as these books are under attack, we must continue to uplift them.
For LGBTQ History Month, I spoke with Margaret Mooney, editor of a new anthology of essays by lesbian mothers who raised children in the 1980s, 90s, and early 2000s. The book not only sheds light on the past, but also offers wisdom for today.
In a powerful new collection of nine personal essays, lesbian parents who raised children in the 1980s, ’90s, and early 2000s share the stories of forming and sustaining their families.
Two powerful but very different new novels move between past and present to tell stories of queer families, change, and healing. In one, a trans witch hopes to help her lesbian mother by teaching her magic; in the other, two narratives intertwine to tell of loss, injustice, and finding a way forward.
How do queer moms parent their sons? The question isn’t just “Are our kids okay?” explained Gail Marlene Schwartz, co-editor of a new book on the topic. “We feel like that’s been established.” Instead, the book asks whether queer moms have “something particular to offer in terms of nurturing healthy masculinity,” Schwartz said.
I’m thrilled to announce that the Mombian Database of LGBTQ Family Books now has over 1,800 entries, with more than 100 added since last November. Come see what’s new for children ages 0 to 12 and for grown-ups, search and filter by topic and identity, and read my in-depth reviews!
