Queer Families Come in all Shapes and Sizes

“I didn’t expect so many queer-identifying mothers would want to tell their stories.

I didn’t expect that so many queer mothers were either living their best lives or having a very difficult time which included those battling with the Italian government, fighting legislation for their maternity rights or being alienated from their children.

I didn’t expect to stumble across so many different family arrangements. I didn’t expect to hear from a wonderful trans woman whose kids still call them “dad” because they tragically lost their wife and mother to cancer when the children were in their early teens.

I didn’t expect a fabulous woman to get on a plane from Scotland to Birmingham to share her story with us about deciding to be a surrogate for gay men who wanted a family in a pay-it-forward expression as she and her partner had received donor sperm to make their queer family.

I didn’t expect to hear from so many women living in the 1970s and 1980s about having children in heterosexual relationships because “that’s just what you did” or to hear from those who regretted not having children, a decision made because they didn’t really know how to go about it.”

Dr Hannah Phillips talked to DIVA Magazine about the powerful stories she learnt by making her show The Queer Motherhood Project. Read the full article below.