Hello and welcome to StorkNet!

Do you ever wonder how the stork myth was created? The word stork comes from the Greek word "storge" which means "strong natural affection," an apt description of the stork. Known for taking extra special care of their parents and other elderly or sick storks, these monogamous birds often live for 70 years. Storks like to nest in chimney tops and return to the same chimney year after year.

Early Scandinavian naturalists noted such habits, and thus the stork symbolism seemed rather natural for the Norse legend that explained the sudden appearance of a new baby. Scandinavian mothers told their children that a stork brought their new baby via the chimney (kind of like Santa Claus!). To explain Mom's required bedrest after the stork brought the baby, children were told the stork bit Mom's leg before leaving which required her to stay in bed for a few days.

In the nineteenth century, Hans Christian Andersen wrote about the stork legend in his famous fairy tales. With the worldwide publication of his tales, Andersen helped carry the stork legend to the far corners of the globe . . . and now the internet!

Being Norwegian, StorkNet seemed like an appropriate moniker for Maribeth Doerr's website. Created in April 1996, this award-winning site has grown from a list of pregnancy links to over 10,000 pages of rich content covering pregnancy, parenting, and more, along with a very active community of devoted members. In 1998, another award-winning site, pregnancyguideonline.com, was launched to provide a week by week look at pregnancy. Exploring Womanhood was launched in October 2001, and Married Romance set sail in February 2002.

Thank you for visiting StorkNet!
Maribeth Doerr