What Makes a Baby and 5 other books that explain the different ways families are made

Based on how many of you have told us about it, we know a bunch of you are big fans of What Makes a Baby, one of the newer kids books out that explain conception, gestation, and birth to the 3 to 8-year-old crowd. According to Laughing Squid, this book “teaches curious kids about conception, gestation, and birth in a way that works regardless of whether or not the kid in question was adopted, conceived using reproductive technologies at home or in a clinic, through surrogacy, or the old fashioned way (you know, with two people and some sexual intercourse), and regardless of how many people were involved, their orientation, gender and other identity, or family composition.”

While this book is a good one, there are a whole bevy of books out there that explain the different ways families are formed and exist:

How Babies and Families Are Made: There Is More Than One Way! breaks down the many different ways children are conceived and families are formed for kiddos between 5 and 11. Topics include: miscarriage, cesarean births, artificial insemination, twins, premature birth, in vitro, adoption, step-children, and babies with disabilities and/or special needs. The book rather ingeniously mixes first grade level sentences with terms like clitoris, urethra, seminal vesicles, and vas deferens.

X, Y, and Me books are celebrated for their wide berth of information. There are installments on everything from IVF and frozen embryo babies to single dads conceiving by way of surrogates. One popular book is from the series is Before You Were Born…Our Wish For A Baby (The Story of IVF Using Donor Sperm).

We Have a Baby is about an interracial family getting ready for the rapidly approaching arrival of their next biological child. The book is ideal for kids between two and five-years-old, and the illustrations include images of and interactions between the baby and the older child.

In The Not-So-Only Child we meet Larissa, an only child who has a BIIIIIIIIIG family. The book is supposed to present as a scrapbook Larissa put together, so you meet her pets (three cats), grandparents (all six) and many aunties (mostly friends of the family). The book is a cute presentation of an only child’s life, and a great way to pump your own only kiddo up about his or her family.

A Very Special Lady is a story about IVF, an egg donor, and a baby girl. There’s also a sister book about a baby boy if that’s what you’re after! Each book explores the idea of egg donation in a positive, toddler-friendly way, making the book great for kids between two and five-years-old.

There’s a House Inside My Mummy is a cute way to explain regular ole physical, biological reproduction to your younger kid(s) if you’re expecting a new baby. The book features a preschooler, and is clearly aimed at that crowd.