Narelda Jacobs & Karina Natt On Rainbow Family & Writing Their Book As An Act of Resistance

When celebrated Whadjuk Noongar journalist Narelda Jacobs and communications specialist Karina Natt join our interview with their eight-month-old daughter Sanna, it’s clear that their new book If Queers Weren’t Meant to Have Kids… is more than a playful satire. 

It is, quite literally, a family project — one that began before Sanna was even born.

“Karina and I first had the idea [for the book] when we were thinking up ways to announce our pregnancy, really. But we didn’t realise how long it takes to publish a book,” laughs Narelda. “Sanna was seven months old by the time the book came out.”

For Karina, the choice to make their announcement via a book rather than a social media post was deliberate. “The book is quite an extravagant way, I guess, to announce the baby… but to do it through a book, it meant that we were taking the opportunity to educate and take the sting out of some of the attacks that we knew would come with an announcement of being queer parents.”

It’s a sad reality that those attacks, subtle and overt, are familiar for rainbow families. Jacobs has endured trolling before, and she and Karina knew parenthood would invite more scrutiny. The book became a way to defang the predictable backlash.

“When Sam Kerr and her partner announced their pregnancy… the trolling on that post got so bad that Chelsea F.C. had to turn off commenting,” Jacobs says. “There were comments along the lines of, you know, ‘this is child abuse’ and ‘your kid’s going to have mental health issues.’”

Satirical, warm, culturally specific and unmistakably queer, If Queers Weren’t Meant to Have Kids became their tool of resistance and of education.

 

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The illustrations, created by award-winning First Nations artist Molly Hunt, were a deeply collaborative process featuring their chosen family members. “Every person in the book, — other than the conservative homophobe — is someone we know,” explains Karina. “It is actually a family-friendly book because queers are family-friendly. It is about love and nurturing.”

However, there was one queer stereotype that they embraced full force — in good humour, of course. “The nesting page… with the U-Haul, car full of plants and power tools,” Jacobs grins, describing the page which features herself and Karina moving in together. 

Beyond the humour, the book also reflects real paths to making a family. While their own journey didn’t involve IVF, they insisted on including it too as a representation of a journey that many rainbow families take. 

Their donor, Mitch, also appears, immortalised in a beautiful dancefloor moment with the three. “It shows Karina and I hugging Mitch under a mirror ball, asking him to be our donor on Mardi Gras night in 2024,” Jacobs shares.

And yes, they made sure the infamous turkey baster gets its educational moment, and were amazed to find some folks weren’t actually familiar with the concept. “A few people didn’t know what a turkey baster represented, which we were shocked by,” the pair laughed.

While it is aimed at adults, the couple have found that children understand the story instantly. But above all, the book is a tribute to chosen family, in all its endless and beautiful diversity.

If Queers Weren’t Meant to Have Kids is out now in all good bookstores.