- Sex instruction book Where Did I Really Come From? aimed at toddlers
- The Daily Telegraph
- 04/05/2009 Make a Comment
- Contributed by: The Rooster ( 258 articles in 2009 )
* Sex instruction book aimed at toddlers
* Teaches about lesbian sex and sperm donors
* Book desensitises, family advocates say
A BOOK which teaches children about lesbian mums getting pregnant using sperm donors is being pitched at kids as young as two.
The controversial publication, Where Did I Really Come From?, also features a drawing of two gay men holding a baby in a chapter about surrogacy.
The publisher's marketing spruiks the book, which includes in-depth descriptions of sexual intercourse, as suitable to be read to two-year-olds.
It is being advertised at some Sydney book stores and inside the cover as being part of the New South Wales Attorney General Office's Learn to Include program.
A spokesman for the Attorney General was unable to confirm yesterday if the book had been funded by the State Government.
In a chapter on assisted conception, the book tells children: "Sometimes, a woman really wants to have a baby but she doesn't want to have intercourse with a man.
"Some women want to bring up a baby by themselves, or with another woman, so the baby gets two mums."
However, angry family advocates claim the book targets children too young.
"It devalues the traditional family unit and at the very least desensitises us," Focus On The Family spokeswoman Deb Sorensen said yesterday.
The book was first penned in the early 1990s, but has been updated and relaunched by Learn to Include, which has published a range of books featuring child characters whose parents are gay.
Learn to Include's website said that the book's "simple, non-judgmental explanations of sexual intercourse, assisted conception, pregnancy, birth, adoption and surrogacy were "suitable for 2-12 year olds".
Author Narelle Wickham defended the book, describing it as a mainstream publication which just went further about ways of conceiving children.
"It is just trying to normalise to children that there are many ways to conceive a child," she said.
* Teaches about lesbian sex and sperm donors
* Book desensitises, family advocates say
A BOOK which teaches children about lesbian mums getting pregnant using sperm donors is being pitched at kids as young as two.
The controversial publication, Where Did I Really Come From?, also features a drawing of two gay men holding a baby in a chapter about surrogacy.
The publisher's marketing spruiks the book, which includes in-depth descriptions of sexual intercourse, as suitable to be read to two-year-olds.
It is being advertised at some Sydney book stores and inside the cover as being part of the New South Wales Attorney General Office's Learn to Include program.
A spokesman for the Attorney General was unable to confirm yesterday if the book had been funded by the State Government.
In a chapter on assisted conception, the book tells children: "Sometimes, a woman really wants to have a baby but she doesn't want to have intercourse with a man.
"Some women want to bring up a baby by themselves, or with another woman, so the baby gets two mums."
However, angry family advocates claim the book targets children too young.
"It devalues the traditional family unit and at the very least desensitises us," Focus On The Family spokeswoman Deb Sorensen said yesterday.
The book was first penned in the early 1990s, but has been updated and relaunched by Learn to Include, which has published a range of books featuring child characters whose parents are gay.
Learn to Include's website said that the book's "simple, non-judgmental explanations of sexual intercourse, assisted conception, pregnancy, birth, adoption and surrogacy were "suitable for 2-12 year olds".
Author Narelle Wickham defended the book, describing it as a mainstream publication which just went further about ways of conceiving children.
"It is just trying to normalise to children that there are many ways to conceive a child," she said.
Source: https://www.news.com.au/story/0,27574,25422558-421,00.html
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