Stress at the time of a baby's conception may increase the chance of it being a girl, a Danish study suggests. The researchers, led by Dr Dorthe Hansen, had seen earlier studies that suggested exposure to smog, floods or earthquakes may lead to a reduction in the proportion of males born. Now the Danish study suggests that severe stresses such as serious illness and bereavement also have the same effect. The researchers, from John F. Kennedy Institute and the Danish Epidemiology Science Centre analysed the male-to-female ratio of 3,072 babies who had been conceived amid traumatic events.
They found that the proportion of boys was 49% among those who had been traumatised as opposed to 51.2% among those who had not. The research team say that stress may influence which sperm reaches the egg first, or that stress may increase miscarriage rates of male fetuses.
Sources and References
-
Stressed mothers more likely to have girls
-
Trauma at time of conception may influence sex of child
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.