Today’s blog is a continuation of a three part series.
Part 2: Don’t Be Shy
By: Kris Probasco and Megan Fabian
Bring up the story from time to time. Look for opportunities to reinforce your messages. For example, this is a fire station, where firefighters help people when they are in an emergency. This is where we went, when we needed help for you to come into our family. This is the hospital where you were born. Showing your child these places provides concrete images and facts.
Use the correct words to tell the story. Inaccurate words and euphemisms are confusing. If your child asks how embryos are made, you might say, “It takes a part from a man, called a sperm, and a part from a woman, called an ovum, to make an embryo. The embryo grows in a uterus, or a womb.” A young child won’t fully understand the words right away. She just needs to begin to understand that there are other people to whom she is connected in a significant way.
If you have a picture of the donor or genetic family, share it. You can point out the similarities that genetics create without going into an explanation of DNA. Ask your child if he has any questions about his genetic family. Answer truthfully, even if it means saying, “I wish I knew the answer to that, but I don’t. We can write it down, and maybe we’ll be able to find out someday.”
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