I was maybe nine or ten years old when my mother took me for yet another appointment to Dr. Vinnecour. I'm sure that she had asked him for some direction in terms of giving me the necessary information about sex. At the close of the visit, Dr. Vinnecour presented her with a hardback book that had a sky blue paper cover, a picture of a stork flying across the page and the words: The Stork Didn't Bring You. I'm serious; that really was the title of the book. My mother handed it over to me with the instruction that I was to read it and then come back to her with any questions that I might have. That was my introduction to sex. No embarrassing, heart-to-heart talks…just a book with a blue cover that I kept hidden on the floor beneath my bed. Even though my mother had given me the book, I somehow believed that it was something I had to keep secret, even from her.
I don't remember ever reading that book on my own. Rather, it was something that I looked when I was with one of my closest friends. We lay on our stomachs across the width of my twin mattress with our legs dangling off the edge and the book open between us. We'd read paragraph after paragraph aloud amidst giggles and questioning looks shot back and forth between us. My bedroom was at the top of the stairs and whenever we'd hear someone approaching, we would toss the book back into its hiding place beneath us. Strange behavior, I think, as I look back now; but back then it seemed completely normal to me. I wonder if my friend, Patty, remembers us reading that book together. I'll have to ask her the next time we talk.
Prior to The Stork Didn't Bring You, my only information about sex had come from a classmate whose mother was pregnant. A group of elementary school friends stood in a circle on the yard and listened as this one girl explained with an air of authority and accomplishment that she now knew where babies came from. She went on to tell us that the mommy went to the doctor's office and that when she came home she was pregnant. While at the time I knew that didn't make sense, I didn't question it out loud.
Given the paucity of information available to me, it's not very surprising that when I had my first sexual encounter at age 17, I was largely unprepared. The biggest shock was seeing an erect penis and believing that my boyfriend had some sort of serious deformity. Like most, I have managed to survive the lack of information and the dubious beginnings of sex — no thanks to Dr. Vinnecour and The Stork Didn't Bring You.
by Reanne Singer