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Mom, Mama, and Me... and How I Came to Be!
Tina Rella; illustrated by Monica Meza; produced by Molly Summer
Published 2010
Book
A two-mother family-building picture book about donor conception and in vitro fertilization.
Overview
Mom, Mama, and Me... and How I Came to Be! was published in 2010 through CreateSpace. Open Library identifies the title, year, page count, and ISBN, while a donor-conception bibliography describes the story as an introduction to sperm donation and in vitro fertilization for young children with two mothers. The local catalog places it in a four-book companion set about lesbian and gay male family formation. In this volume, Jonathan is asked about his father during Career Day and later learns from his mothers how donor conception helped make their family. The item matters because it joins LGBTQ-parent representation to precise family-building language, rather than treating family diversity only as social acceptance.[2][3][4][1]
Assisted-Reproduction Language
The donor-conception bibliography is valuable because it records the book's vocabulary. It describes the title as introducing children to sperm, egg, embryo, and donation language in a two-mother household. That makes the item more specific than a general book about family diversity. It belongs to a practical genre: books that give children words for the medical and social facts behind their family formation.[3][2]
Companion Set
The local catalog places this title with three related books: a two-mother adoption version, a gay-father adoption story, and a gay-father egg-donor story. The set structure is important. It treats donor conception, egg donation, and adoption as parallel family-making routes across lesbian and gay male households. A single book explains Jonathan's family; the group maps a broader assisted-reproduction and adoption vocabulary for same-sex-parent families.[1][4][5]
Career-Day Question
The local description begins with a classroom question: Jonathan can name his mothers' jobs, but another child asks where his father is. That scene places assisted reproduction inside an ordinary school exchange. The story does not begin in a clinic or legal setting; it begins with a child needing language for a peer's question. This gives the book a clear social use: helping children answer how their family came to be.[1][3]
Resource-List Afterlife
The title appears in fertility and donor-conception reading lists, including recommended-reading resources for prospective parents and family-building counseling contexts. That afterlife is part of the item's meaning. The book did not circulate only as trade children's literature; it also moved through fertility clinics, support resources, and parent education, where adults looked for child-facing explanations of donor conception and assisted reproduction.[6][7][3]
Timeline
- 2010PublicationOpen Library places Mom, Mama, and Me... and How I Came to Be! in 2010 with CreateSpace and ISBN 9781452875668.[2]
- 2010Companion setPublic checklists and local records place the title in a 2010 group of same-sex-parent family-building books.[4][1]
- 2013Donor-conception bibliographyA donor-conception children's-book bibliography described the book's IVF and sperm-donation explanation for children with two mothers.[3]
- 2016Fertility reading listA fertility practice reading list included the title among child-facing resources about donor conception and LGBTQ family building.[6]
Family-Building Set
The local catalog groups four related books that explain adoption, donor conception, and egg donation in same-sex-parent families.
2010
Mom, Mama, and Me... and How I Came to Be!
Two-mother donor-conception and in vitro fertilization story.
2010
Mom, Mamma, and Me
Two-mother adoption companion story.
2010
That's My Daddy and Pop / Daddy and Pop
Gay-father companion stories about adoption and egg donation.
Explore Connections
Browse direct links, shared themes, and nearby publication dates.
Linked records
Mom, Mama, and Me
The local catalog identifies the two titles as companion versions, with this record addressing donor conception and the related title addressing adoption.
That's My Daddy and Pop
The companion set extends the family-building framework from a two-mother household to gay-father households.
Where Did I Really Come From?
Both titles belong to a wider child-facing literature that explains donor conception and assisted family formation.
Shared themes
Is Your Family Like Mine?
An early picture book in which a child with two mothers asks classmates what makes a family.
Recipes of How Babies Are Made
A child-facing explanation of conception, donor gametes, surrogacy, embryo donation, IVF, and adoption.
Chag Sameach! = Happy Holidays
A Jewish holiday book illustrated with photographs of diverse families and community observances.
Heather Has Two Mommies
A 1989 picture book about a child with two mothers, represented here through its In Other Words first-edition history and later public life.
Nearby dates
A Tale of Two Daddies
A VanitaBooks companion picture book using questions and everyday care to present a child with two fathers.
Children's Books with LGBT Themes
A self-published reference object that helps document how LGBTQ children's books were listed and aggregated.
City Life
A picture book about a child with two mothers moving through ordinary urban activities.
Dad David, Baba Chris and Me
A British adoption and fostering resource book about Ben, his two adoptive fathers, and school bullying.
Citation
Mom, Mama, and Me... and How I Came to Be!. Tina Rella; illustrated by Monica Meza; produced by Molly Summer. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2010. Tarpey-Schwed LGBT Families Children's Book Special Collection, Mechanics' Institute. Collection ID: KB-048.
Showing Plain text citation format.
Sources
- Local collection catalog record for Mom, Mama, and Me... and How I Came to Be! · catalog
- Open Library ISBN record for Mom, Mama, and Me... and How I Came to Be! · library
- Donor Conception, Surrogacy, and IVF: Books for Children entry · resource
- Checklist of Children's Books Featuring LGBT Family Members · resource
- Goodreads author page for Tina Rella · reader_catalog
- Shady Grove Fertility recommended reading list · resource
- Covington and Hafkin recommended reading list · resource
- Barnes & Noble record for Surrogacy Helps Make a Family Grow · bookseller