Learning that babies do not come from a magical stork, but actually from human anatomy, can be rattling. We have some pretty memorable stories about how we first found out about sex. So, we polled our friends and followers for their experiences – read on for some LOLs and nostalgia.  

How we learned about sex for the first time:

“I learned in second grade when Jamie Lynn Spears got pregnant. I was at the grocery store with my mom and saw a tabloid in the check out line. I asked my mom how it was possible she was pregnant as a teenager without a husband. My mom ended up explaining to me what sex was. I was shocked.” 

“I was in second or third grade and I was reading my dog encyclopedia. There was a section about breeding that specified how the male dog’s penis inserts into the female dog’s vagina. I was horrified. I ran to my mom crying and asked if that’s how humans made babies. She said yes and bought me a book about how the sperm meets the egg. I told her I would be adopting children.” 

“I learned in third grade on the playground during recess. Two boys came up to me and told me how babies are made. I screamed and went home crying to my mom, begging her to tell me they were being mean and pranking me. She then sat me down and explained it was not a prank and told me what sex is.”

“I don’t remember how old I was, but I was young. A friend asked me if I knew how babies were made and told me that a man puts his penis in a woman’s vagina. I thought that was so crazy I didn’t believe it for years.” 

“I was in third or fourth grade. My mom took me out on a shopping date. We stopped at my favorite bakery and she picked up two cookies that were shaped like a bird and a bee. Then she explained to me how a mom and a dad make a baby.” 

“I didn’t really learn what sex was until sex-ed in 5th grade. Before that I knew about the private parts, just not that the penis had to go inside the vagina or get hard. I thought it was just two people rubbing up against each other.” 

“I first learned about sex when I was in kindergarten or so, from the daughter of one of my mom's friends. All I remember is we were huddled together in a big group of kids, and she told us that her dad put ‘his penis in her mom's vagina’ to have a baby. I remember being really confused and feeling embarrassed about learning this! I remember thinking that putting a ‘penis inside a vagina’ must have been a medical procedure or something done in a hospital. Later on, my mom read me some books about sex and how babies are made and I was still confused about it. I didn't learn that people had sex for pleasure until way later on!” 

“I was nine and I was at the beach with my mom. I saw two stingrays, or what I remember to be stingrays, on top of each other. I said to my mom ‘look they're playing!’ She told me they weren’t playing, but mating. She then explained to me what that was. The first time I found out about sex was watching two animals mate.” 

“My mom showed me an episode of Oprah where she had a guest speaker on to talk about ‘the birds and the bees.’ After we watched it she sat me down and talked to me about sex and periods.”