Toksvig contributes audio extract to Jeffs and Oakley’s LGBTQ+ parenting book

Presenter and broadcaster Sandi Toksvig will write and record an exclusive introduction to The Queer Parent audiobook, the “groundbreaking” parenting book from Lotte Jeffs and Stu Oakley. 

Toksvig was recorded by Laura Marlow, senior audio editor. The Queer Parent will be published by Bluebird in audiobook and hardback on 11th May 2023.

Jeffs and Oakley are the hosts of “Some Families”, described on the channel as “a podcast dedicated to celebrating LGBTQ+ families”. The Queer Parent is, according to the publisher, the first “mainstream and comprehensive” LGBTQ+ parenting book to be published in the UK. Jeffs and Oakley cover topics such as fertility treatment, adoption and homophobia alongside “expert advice” and personal accounts from a range of contributors including Toksvig’s son, Theo. 

Jeffs and Oakley commented: “It means the world to us to have Sandi write and read an emotional and empowered introduction to our audiobook version of The Queer Parent. She is a trailblazer in LGBTQ+ parenting so to have her voice added to those we’ve spoken to for the book really is the cherry on top of the wonderful experience we’ve had on our Queer Parent journey.”

Part of Toksvig’s introduction reads: “When my then partner and I set out to have kids, it was 1987. We were two women so isolated we had never even heard of lesbians having children. Apart from understanding the mechanics of needing to find a donor, we had no idea about the social, legal or any other implications. We were not even certain that if we had a child, social services might not come and take the baby away.”

The Queer Parent book launch was held at Shangri-La restaurant in the Shard, London, on 9th May with Elizabeth Day, Will Young and comedian Suzi Ruffell in attendance. Oakley and Jeffs spoke on the current issues facing LGBTQ+ people, citing new laws in Italy and Hungary, and were followed by a performance by the Pink Singers, the longest running LGBTQ+ choir in Europe.