Stressed women more likely to have girls?
Categories: Newborns, Pregnancy & Birth
There are a million old wive's tales about how to create a boy baby, how to make a girl. I'm pretty sure I don't believe any of them. And I'm not so sure about the data in this article, which cites recent research that says stressed out mamas are more likely to have baby girls than boys.
According to the study, woman who were 'judged to be stressed' (including sleep quality and ability to cope with stress) were five percent more likely to have a girl than women who were deemed 'relaxed.' Further mystifying: past studies have shown that the number of boy babies being born goes down following major world upheaval. Huh.
Though the article is from a somewhat breathless tabloid-ish paper, the researchers sound official enough: they're from the University of Aarhus in Denmark, and note that it's odd that stress seems to skew the sex ratio of babies when gender of a baby is determined by chromosomes in the Father's sperm.
According to the study, woman who were 'judged to be stressed' (including sleep quality and ability to cope with stress) were five percent more likely to have a girl than women who were deemed 'relaxed.' Further mystifying: past studies have shown that the number of boy babies being born goes down following major world upheaval. Huh.
Though the article is from a somewhat breathless tabloid-ish paper, the researchers sound official enough: they're from the University of Aarhus in Denmark, and note that it's odd that stress seems to skew the sex ratio of babies when gender of a baby is determined by chromosomes in the Father's sperm.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Ethel 9-23-2007 @ 11:06AM
It may seem odd, but I don't think it is. Gorillas and chimpanzees in captivity have a skewed birthing of males, seemingly as they are healthy then they are in the wild and have better access to better and more regular nutrition. Stress can mean a lot of things, a stressful response to life circumstances or stress due to insufficient or haphazard physical needs, illness, and natural calamities.
Anyway, it would make sense that we as primates would have a similar response to stress and be selecting our zygotes in some manner. Certainly biologists have noted that to have a girl is less costly energetically and ensures that child is going to reproduce (males are not so choosy about mates). But with males to ensure that they reproduce they have to be smart and big - translation a lot of energy and resources.
I still want two mean little girls to rule the world though.
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Uly 9-23-2007 @ 11:23AM
Could be in reverse - if you're carrying a male child, you're more stressed for whatever reason.
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Ann Adams 9-23-2007 @ 12:03PM
Or when we're stressed, we more hostile to the XY chromosome?
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SKL 9-23-2007 @ 2:02PM
Boys are physiologically the weaker sex until they start developing secondary sex characteristics, all other things remaining equal (as in not starving our girls as they do in some countries). So most likely, more boy embryos / fetuses just don't make it in times of stress. It's not surprising to me.
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jpark 9-23-2007 @ 2:57PM
My impression isn't that the women are determining the baby's sex, but that perhaps their body is more hospitable to the X-carrying sperm. The Y-sperm are lighter and more fragile, so a stressed female system may be too much for them. I have also heard of other studies where men in high-stress jobs (like firemen or certain military units) were much more likely to father girl babies as well, presumably because THEIR bodies' stress was too much for those sperm to endure. But I am in no way a scientist, so I may be totally misinterpreting things.
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~Monica 9-23-2007 @ 2:57PM
I've recently read (sorry, I don't have a link or study to quote but I'm sure they can be Googled) that the reason why this could be true (woman having girls if they are stressed) is due to the pH level of the woman. That if the pH level goes askew, then the male sperm are killed off and the female sperm survive. Interesting nonetheless. So although ultimately it is the male that determines the gender, the female can play a role in that with where her pH levels are at the time of intercourse/conception.
http://www.raisinglucas.com
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