The Grapevine was published two to four times yearly and covered custody news from around the world. It addressed issues important to lesbian mothers and their children, and included personal accounts, poems, drawings, and cartoons. It reported on custody battles in the U.S. and Canada and provided support and advice.

As the editors said in their first newsletter (summer of 1979), Grapevine is a place for writing about our day-to-day lives, and other women can see the common ground we all stand on in fighting for a better life for ourselves and our children.”