Through personal experience and with many other couples I have had contact with, children’s stories make the process of telling so much easier. One of the great advantages of sharing disclosure with storytelling is that you can read stories even if your first intention is not to disclose.

As you read to your child, your child becomes familiar with the fact that families are formed in different ways. You, as a parent, become more familiar with the language and the more you read the story the easier it is for you to assimilate it and get used to it whilst the child enjoys the story. As the child grows fond of the story, and as the child reacts to the story the parents may become more comfortable to partially disclose and observe their child’s reaction. One can start by gradually disclosing, for example: as the child grows his/her questions about the story may become more specific, like “Who is that lady who helped?” and one can just say “A kind lady, for whom I am very grateful” and normally that is enough. You don’t need to give more information than what they ask and it is important to make things as simple as possible. Then suddenly it just clicks and when they are old enough to fully understand they will feel that they were always aware of this.