Seven.
That’s how many years it took before my kid asked the question.
You know; the one that begins with “How” and ends with “do mommies get pregnant?”
Before getting married and giving birth, I wondered how and when I would discuss the birds and the bees with my children.
Well, I found out the when: July 2012.
Unfortunately, I didn’t quite figure out the “how.”
Sadly, I was not prepared to get into the nitty-gritty reproductive details with my second grader, so I mumbled something about God being in charge of giving the gift of life, blah, blah, blah, yada, yada.
So, yeah, my kid probably thinks immaculate conceptions are an every day occurrence.
I know; bad mom.
Guilty as charged.
I am hoping the God answer buys me at least a year before I have to sit down and tell my daughter how humans really spawn.
Truth be told, I am not proud about the way I handled the situation. I know there is a host of ways parents can answer sensitive sex-related questions in an age appropriate manner. However, in my case, I simply wasn’t prepared to do so in the waiting room of our dentist’s office, so I went with my gut instinct and put it on God.
And wouldn’t you know, within 36 hours of my decision to do so I find this in my email inbox: “Nearly 40 percent of U.S. births are the result of unplanned pregnancies, according to a new report from the National Center for Health Statistics.”
The entire NCHS report (in PDF form) was forwarded to me from the branch of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) in large part because years ago I produced a series of stories about teenage pregnancies while working as a television anchor/reporter.
Back then, I played up a quote I got from a mom whose 14-year-old daughter was about to have a baby of her own. The mom maintained that she thought her daughter knew that “unless you are a guy, you can get pregnant.”
Apparently not.
According to the new NCHS report, nearly 77 percent of births to teen mothers in the United States are unintended pregnancies, compared with 50 percent for women aged 20 to 24, and 25 percent for women aged 25 to 44.
Even more startling is this find: The most common reason given for the non-use of contraception, regardless of age or marital status, was: “I didn’t think I could get pregnant.”
Clearly, I need to discuss the birds and the bees with my daughter sooner rather than later.
How old were your kids when you had “the talk?”
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