Jobs initially denied paternity for several years, which led to a legal case and various media reports in the early days of Apple.

[1][2] Her mother, Chrisann Brennan, and her father, Steve Jobs, first met at Homestead High School in Cupertino, California, in 1972 and had an on-off relationship for the next five years.

[1][2] In 1977, after Jobs had co-founded Apple Inc., he and Brennan moved into a house with their friend Daniel Kottke near the company's office in Cupertino, where they all worked.

Jobs, however, did not assume responsibility for the pregnancy, which led Brennan to end the relationship, leave their shared home, and support herself by cleaning houses.

[1][4][5] The resolution of the legal case required him to provide Brennan with $385 per month and to reimburse the state for the money she had received from welfare.

[2] Michael Moritz interviewed Jobs, Brennan, and a number of others for the 1982 Time Person of the Year special issue, released on January 3, 1983.

He remained mostly distant, cold and made her feel unwanted, and initially refused to pay her college fees.

[4][5] In 2018, Brennan-Jobs published Small Fry, a memoir detailing her childhood and the complex and sometimes difficult relationship she had with her father.

In the 2015 film Steve Jobs, directed by Danny Boyle, Brennan-Jobs is portrayed at different ages by Perla Haney-Jardine, Ripley Sobo, and Makenzie Moss.

Steve Jobs screenwriter Aaron Sorkin said that he discussed the screenplay with Brennan-Jobs in advance and that she is the "heroine of the film".