Jessica Biel is ready to school girls on bodies and sex-ed

by

Sara McGinnis

posted in Celebrities

No topic is going to be off limits when Jessica Biel helps launch a sex-ed video series for women and girls. The actress, who recently welcomed son Silas with husband Justin Timberlake, discovered that when she was ready to get pregnant she actually knew very little about trying to conceive.

"Now what happens?" she recalled thinking while chatting with Glamour magazine. "I've been on the Pill for so long; how hard will it be to get pregnant?"

"Suddenly I realized I really didn't know what's going on inside my own body," the 33-year-old new mom added. "It was shocking."

Recalling the first time she got her period in the fifth grade, Jessica Biel went on to share, "I was in a school play, wearing a gray beard and this pad the size of a skateboard and thinking, 'What is happening to me?'"

The actress, who is working with activist and founder of the nonprofit health care organization WomanCare Global Saundra Pelletier, added, "We want girls to know what their [body is going through] so they don't feel scared or ashamed or gross."

Jessica and and Saundra plan to "share girl stories, fears, and insecurities," in the videos for womancareglobal.org. "The tone is informative but also goofy, smart, witty."

After reading about Jessica's experiences getting to know how her body works I have to wonder how many other women have similar stories, because my own is awfully close to hers.

I didn't get my period until seventh grade, but I distinctly remember trying to play in one of my soccer games while wearing a giant pad and thinking, 'You've got to be kidding me. This is really how this works? Every month for how long?!'

Twenty-one years later I still haven't quite gotten used to the idea.

I also didn't know hardly anything about getting or being pregnant. After years of doing everything in my power not to get pregnant I wasn't sure how to go about doing the opposite -- and that's really how I came across BabyCenter for the very first time. The Internet was still a baby itself back at that time, but I was thankful to have a way to privately access information.

Care to share what you thought of getting your period for the first time? How much did you know about getting pregnant before deciding to try and conceive? Share with us by leaving a comment below!

Photos: PR Photos