Where Did I Really Come From?

Overview

Where Did I Really Come From? is a 2008 full-colour Learn to Include edition of Narelle Wickham's child-facing book on conception, birth, assisted reproduction, surrogacy, and adoption, illustrated by Ingrid Urh. Archived publisher material says the book was first published in 1992 and reissued with updated content. The local catalog notes that the text does not specifically center same-sex parenting, but that illustrations include lesbian couples, gay male couples, and other families, including a two-man couple with a newborn in the surrogacy section. Its value is therefore precise: an Australian family-formation book where reproductive education, visual inclusion, school use, and public controversy meet. News, publisher, school-review, archive, and scholarship sources make it one of the strongest newly researched records.^{[3][2][5][6][1]}

A Broad Reproductive-Education Book

Archived Learn to Include materials describe a book covering sexual intercourse, donor insemination, IVF, pregnancy, birth, surrogacy, and adoption. That range makes the title unusually broad for a children's picture book. It does not isolate one pathway to family formation; it gathers several explanations in one child-facing object. For the collection, this matters because same-sex-parent visibility appears within a wider account of how children may come into families. The book connects LGBTQ representation to reproductive technology, disclosure, and ordinary questions children ask adults.^[3][10][9]

Same-Sex Families In The Illustrations

The local catalog's strongest claim is visual: same-sex couples appear in the illustrations even though the prose is not described as specifically about same-sex parenting. That distinction should be preserved. The book's inclusion may work through pictures, examples, and family groupings rather than through a narrative about lesbian or gay parents. This makes the object especially useful for research. It shows how representation can enter children's nonfiction through the visual field and through the examples chosen to explain conception, birth, surrogacy, and adoption.^[1][3][12]

From 1992 To The 2008 Edition

Learn to Include's archived page says Wickham's book was first published in 1992 and later republished in full colour with updated content. That update history is important. Assisted reproductive technology, donor-conception language, and family-structure debates changed sharply between the early 1990s and 2008. The collection copy therefore points to revision as well as publication. It invites comparison between what children were told about reproduction in the early 1990s and how the topic was reframed for a later generation of families and educators.^[3][2][8]

Australian School And Classroom Context

The title belongs to the Australian Learn to Include environment rather than a general trade-publishing shelf. Star Observer reporting, NSW Scan review material, and archived Learn to Include pages connect the book to school use, family diversity, and public discussion about whether education systems should support such material. That educational setting gives the record a concrete institutional life. It was not only a home resource; it circulated through questions about classrooms, libraries, public logos, and what counts as age-appropriate family education.^[2][5][6][4]

Timeline

1. 1992First publication notedArchived Learn to Include material says the book was first published in 1992.^[3]
2. 2004Learn to Include reader contextAustralian Learn to Include records preserve the related early-reader family-diversity context.^[13][14]
3. 2008Full-colour editionLearn to Include published the updated full-colour edition.^[3][2]
4. 2008Launch reportingStar Observer reported on the book and its family-education purpose.^[2]
5. 2009Public controversyStar Observer reported controversy over diversity support and logo use.^[5]
6. 2009School-review contextNSW Scan reviewed or documented the title for educational readers.^[6]
7. 2010Scholarship contextChildren & Libraries scholarship placed the title in assisted-reproductive-technology picture-book discussion.^[9]
8. 2011Archived publisher pageThe archived Learn to Include page preserved bibliographic details, contents, and publisher description.^[3]

Reproductive-Education Trail

The item combines reproductive education, Australian school use, and family-diversity controversy.

Citation

Where Did I Really Come From?. Narelle Wickham; illustrated by Ingrid Urh. Learn to Include, 2008. Tarpey-Schwed LGBT Families Children's Book Special Collection, Mechanics' Institute. Collection ID: KB-054.

Sources

Cover image from archived Learn to Include page.

1. Local collection catalog record for Where Did I Really Come From? · catalog
2. Star Observer report on Where Did I Really Come From? · news
3. Archived Learn to Include page for Where Did I Really Come From? · publisher
4. Archived Learn to Include books page · publisher
5. Star Observer report on NSW diversity-support controversy · news
6. NSW Scan review archive · education
7. Pride.com report on Where Did I Really Come From? · news
8. State Library of NSW archive listing for title variant · archive
9. Children & Libraries article page on assisted reproductive technology in picture books · scholarship
10. Google Books record for Where Did I Really Come From? · library
11. Open Library record for Heather Has Two Mommies · library
12. Genealogy article on same-sex-parent picture books · scholarship
13. National Library of Australia record for My House · library
14. Google Books record for Going to Fair Day · library
15. Google Books record for The Rainbow Cubby House · library
16. Google Books record for Koalas on Parade · library
17. Open Library record for The Family Book · library