Mothers turn men from women!

[whisper]

OK, I know the title is silly and not true, but it was fun to write.

Sexual orientation of men determined before birth

Tue Jun 27, 12:38 AM ET



NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A man's sexual orientation appears to be determined in the womb, a new study suggests.

Past research by Dr. Anthony F. Bogaert of Brock University in St. Catherines, Ontario and colleagues has shown that the more older brothers a man has, the more likely he is to be gay. But it has not been clear if this is a prenatal effect or a psychosocial effect, related to growing up with older male siblings.

To investigate, Bogaert studied 944 gay and straight men, including several who were raised with adopted, half- or step-siblings or were themselves adopted. He reasoned that if the relationship between having older male siblings and homosexuality was due to family environment or child-rearing practices, it would be seen whether or not a man's older brothers were biological or adopted.

Bogaert found that the link between having older brothers and homosexuality was present only if the siblings were biologically related -- this relationship was seen between biological brothers who were not raised together. The amount of time that a man was reared with older brothers had no association with sexual orientation.

"These results support a prenatal origin to sexual orientation development in men and indicate that the fraternal birth-order effect is probably the result of a maternal 'memory' for male gestations or births," Bogaert writes in his report in PNAS Early Edition.

A woman's body may see a male fetus as "foreign," Bogaert explains, and her immune response to subsequent male fetuses may grow progressively stronger.

"If this immune theory were correct, then the link between the mother's immune reaction and the child's future sexual orientation would probably be some effect of maternal anti-male antibodies on the sexual differentiation of the brain," he suggests.

Other lines of research also support the sexual orientation-maternal immune response link, he notes.

If what they're speculating is happening, it would be pretty interesting. I wonder if there are other conditions out there that could be caused by a mothers immune response.

[E. Blackadder]

so... the immune system response is designed to prevent... what?!

There's really no point (talking classical genetics -- see Richard Dawkins) in a mother investing time and great effort bearing a child that won't contribute to the gene pool.

To quote one of the great physicists, this idea isn't even wrong.

[whisper]

Originally Posted by E. Blackadder

so... the immune system response is designed to prevent... what?!

There's really no point (talking classical genetics -- see Richard Dawkins) in a mother investing time and great effort bearing a child that won't contribute to the gene pool.

To quote one of the great physicists, this idea isn't even wrong.

Do you even see the fundamental flaw in your argument?

[Griffin]

Originally Posted by whisper

Do you even see the fundamental flaw in your argument?

The fundamental flaw appears only on the surface of his argument. Look a little deeper and the flaw disappears.

[whisper]

Originally Posted by Griffin

The fundamental flaw appears only on the surface of his argument. Look a little deeper and the flaw disappears.

Nope. Its a fundamental flaw.

Here's a hint at what it is.

[Griffin]

Originally Posted by whisper

Nope. Its a fundamental flaw.

Here's a hint at what it is.

Nope, sorry, too late. I've already analyzed both your argument and his. Your conclusion is flawed, his is not. Thank-you, come again.

[fallout]

Bogaert studied 944 gay and straight men,

Where did they find so many men that were so confused?

[thtevie]

Originally Posted by whisper

OK, I know the title is silly and not true, but it was fun to write.




If what they're speculating is happening, it would be pretty interesting. I wonder if there are other conditions out there that could be caused by a mothers immune response.

You know the old saying, "Throw enough **** at the wall and something is bound to stick." Statistically, 1 in 20 random correlations is significant at the 5% level - just a little tidbit I learned from C7. My guess is this is that 5% turd.

[Dr T Non-Fan]

If you read further into the study...

"Gay fetuses typically decorate the uterus in flamboyant fashion, while the straight fetuses are just happy with good reception on the Plasma TV."

[Griffin]

I heard that the more the fetus reacts to Patsy Cline albums, the more likely it is the fetus is gay.