Here’s a list of some books centering on two moms raising children together as a couple! Happy Mother’s Day to all the two-mom families out there and best of luck to those trying to become two moms. Links are to my more detailed reviews.
Fierce Family – a collection of wonderfully curated fifteen science fiction, fantasy, and paranormal short stories centering on the theme of ‘queer family.’ Many of the stories feature families with two moms, either as the heroines of the story or as the main character’s mothers, in settings as varied as postapocalyptic Australia and a space colony.
Double Pregnant: Two Lesbians Make a Family – a nonfiction but very entertaining and interesting diary of a lesbian couple in Canada as they look for a sperm donor and eventually both have babies
Dates! An Anthology of Queer Historical Fiction – short stories told mostly in graphic novel form, set in any point in history (pre-1960’s) all over the world, and all guaranteed to veer away from tragic queer tropes. One of my favorite pieces in the collection was about a pair of Black women in a rural early 20th century community who bring their families together when their husbands die, and eventually fall in love themselves.
Keile’s Chance – Black lesbian contemporary romance; one day a workaholic computer programmer is in the park when she finds a lost toddler—who turns out to have a really cute mom.
The Cage – free short fiction; lesbians looking after an orphaned werewolf baby in a city where anti-werewolf sentiment puts him in danger
Hypnotizing Chickens – when the protagonist’s partner leaves her for another woman, she goes home to Kentucky to take care of her ailing granny and eventually falls for granny’s physical therapist, who has a daughter
Chameleon Moon – dystopian sci-fi revolution adventure about the government trapping all superpowered people in a crumbling city with an underground fire. The female lead is a trans woman who’s part of a lesbian triad, who have a young son. All three moms have powers—the leading lady over sound, one of the cis moms over plants, and the other over machinery.
A Safe Girl to Love – collection of transfeminine short fiction by a trans author. One of the stories, “Winning”, is about a trans girl whose mom is also trans. Since she had two moms at one point (but the marriage broke up) I’m counting it for this list but be aware at the point the story takes place I’m pretty sure the mom is single. The daughter, by the way, is a straight trans girl.
Girl Goddess #9: In the short story “Dragons in Manhattan” – hard to mention without spoiling but the protagonist is trying to get some answers about her life, and her moms are a couple. Goodreads link, since I don’t have a review (I actually read the story ten years ago so it’s not fresh in my mind.)
Some of my fiction has moms who love other women, too! In Fearless, a newly-out-of-the-closet lesbian band mom falls for a music teacher while snowed in at All-State, and in A Harvest of Ripe Figs (followed by The Olive Conspiracy, coming July 2016), a lesbian queen solves mysteries as part of her royal duties while raising the baby princess with her partner. I hope you’ll be tempted to join their adventures!
P.S. Fannie Flagg’s Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Café, the book, has woman couple raising a son together. Don’t be fooled by the extra little straightwashing details in the movie; the book is definitely worth checking out. It’s been eons since I’ve read it, though, so I don’t have a post about it.
Shira Glassman is a bi Jewish violinist living in Florida with a labor activist and a badly behaved calico. Her books have made the finals of the Golden Crown Awards and Bi Book Awards, but she should clean her car more often. Look for her next book in July, when Queen Shulamit & friends must save their country from economic sabotage.
