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Does an older brother increase a younger brother's chances of being gay?
Filed under: Just For Moms, Development/Milestones: Babies
According to researchers at Brock University, St. Catharines, Canada, if a boy has several older brothers his chances of becoming a homosexual will increase from 3% to 5%. The affect does not apply to step-brothers or adopted brothers, only blood brothers can have the psychological impact on a younger brother to influence the outcome of his sexuality. The research team gives credit to a biological basis for being gay; the link must come through the mother and then through her older sons. While there have been previous similar studies, this is the first one to eliminate social and environmental factors.This study seems a bit hooey to me. Sure it's interesting, it stops you for a moment and makes you think, "Hmmm." But does this mean that my two year-old's chances of being gay have increased by 2% simply because he happens to have an older brother? I couldn't care less if he does grow up and announce that he is gay at some point, he's my son and I will adore him regardless. What about you? What do you think?
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ReaderComments (Page 1 of 1)
8-20-2006 @ 9:18PM
ann adams said...I started to avoid this one but in for a dime, in for a dollar as they say.
My older son is straight, the younger one is gay. When these studies first began surfacing, we three talked about them a lot.
We finally decided that yes, the studies may or may not prove a thing. However, if gender identity is finally proven to be built in, it would take a lot of steam away from those who consider it a moral issue or a "choice".
Reply
8-20-2006 @ 11:23PM
Kira said...How, exactly, would it be the mother's genetic contribution that's involved here, when it's the father's contribution that decides the gender of a child?
Reply
8-20-2006 @ 11:53PM
Brooke said...Please be careful how you report studies. You mentioned "the psychological impact" and then went on to say that the cause was biological, not social.
And Kira, you also seem to be confused. Sexual orientation and gender are not the same thing. Gay men are still men, with a Y chromosome.
Reply
8-21-2006 @ 12:00AM
Nicole said...We studied this study in my Bilogical Bases course this summer. (I'm training to be a clinical psychologist.) The hypothesis seems to be that it's the hormonal conditions in the womb that are affected with mothers of multiple sons over the course of her lifetime. The older the mother, the more likely that things will be altered from what is considered the "normative" level of hormones presnt at certain times during gestation.
These hormonal differences result in actual physical differences in the brains of male babies that are exposed to these differences during gestation. Other factors that seem to play a role are high levels of stress in the mother when pregnant, and births of multiples (twins, triplets). The evidence is pretty sound scientifically, so far. Time and research will tell in years to come.
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8-21-2006 @ 12:23PM
Nancy Toby said...Hmm. Do older siblings increase a girl's chance of becoming a lesbian? Has anyone studied that? Funny, people always seem to be much more concerned about a son turning out gay (horrors!).
Um, so what is the take-home lesson for parents here?
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