When Isabelle Gerretsen was 5 years old, her grandmother gave her and her younger sister a picture book that detailed the couple having sex and having a baby.

“We were excited. Before that, we knew that storks bring babies,” she told the BBC, noting that their mother grabbed the book and put it on a shelf somewhere high up. It took her years to talk to them about sex, childbirth and puberty.

The reviewer noted that sex education was part of the curriculum in both the Dutch and English elementary schools she attended. However, many children don’t know anything about sex until they enter high school.

“Of course, many children believe in fairy tales,” says Lucy Emerson, executive director of the British Sex Education Forum.

But how did the stork myth become the most famous of childbearing myths?

The legend of Geran, who became … a bird

The myth comes from ancient Greece, where cranes, in many ways similar to storks, abducted babies.

In Greek mythology, Hera turned her rival Gerana into a bird (crane) for an illicit affair with her husband Zeus. Not wanting to part with her newborn child, Gerana took the baby, wrapped him in a blanket and flew away with the baby in her beak.

“Over time, the stork took the place of the crane,” says Paul Quinn, senior lecturer in English literature at the University of Chichester in the UK.

“There is a connection with the economy, because storks nest on the roofs of people,” he said, adding that the pelican was added to the legend, which in medieval European literature was a symbol of the Virgin Mary and mother.

The stork first appeared in fairy tales in the early 19th century.

“Storks have always been associated with family life because they feed their young through their mouths,” says Marina Warner, professor of English and writing at Birkbeck College, University of London.

Also, storks are those who in fairy tales often come to save human babies.

“Stork finds babies in wells [ή] ponds, pulls out the cubs with its beak and wraps them in a sheet,” says Warner.

It is even noted that this version became popular thanks to the story of Hans Christian Andersen “Storks”, published at the beginning of the 19th century.

Stork… obsolete?

But isn’t the above tale outdated for modern parents?

Some experts justify this decision of parents, others believe that the “perpetuation” of this myth is fraught with risk.

According to a Sex Education Forum consultant, some parents feel relieved and safe talking about storks, and also find that their children are not embarrassed.

“It’s a fact that it can be difficult for parents to ‘fix’ the story later and admit they lied,” he said.

Another danger of using these myths is that it will not be easy for a parent to talk openly with their child about sex later on.

“If there isn’t good communication on specific issues, teens may feel uncomfortable talking to their parents about their concerns, and that could have consequences down the road,” said Henoa Cooper, assistant professor of sexual health at the School of Public Health. at New York University.

^{Source: BBC}