1And a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed in the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head. 2She was pregnant and crying out in the pain and agony of giving birth.
Karellen and his ilk were effectively midwives, baren midwives.
Maybe you should re-read Childhood's End?
It has been quite a while since I read the novel, but Clarke, as an atheist, depicted the Overlords as having the appearance of demons.. They oversaw the destruction of humanity and the Earth itself, as human children became part of a disembodied hive mind. This was a horror story to me.