Lesbian Mothers
1988
260 Lesbian Mothers
Trisha got together with Jackie (Atkins) around
1988/9; they bought their first house together in 1990. “The first
thing she said to me was ‘You’re not going to have kids are you, or I’m
off!?’ Jackie had kids who had by then grown up, but didn’t
particularly identify as a lesbian mother, though she’s quite an active
grandmother. Some of the women in our group had kids but I don’t
remember it being an issue, whereas there were some women whose
identity was all about being lesbian mothers, and they often felt they
didn’t get support, especially around the boy children, which caused
them immense trouble. The Women's Liberation Movement in Birmingham was
initially kicked off by the Women's Liberation Playgroup, so the focus
was on motherhood and having kids, but we weren’t terribly interested
in all that, and it was well before lesbians started having kids on a
significant level so we saw it as a hangover from your previous life.”
Contributed by: Trisha McCabe, 51