Destined to be a boy’s mother? New research shows that babies’ sex is not always random
Ashley Clouthier said she hoped her first child would be a boy, so when he was ecstatic.
Clouthier, 39, of Almonte, Ontario, grew up with an older brother and hopes to have the same experience as the extended family her husband plans for. When their next child is also a boy, well, even better. She believes that the best bud age is in age, and there are two older brothers for their future children’s relatives.
But then their third child was a boy. and their fourth. Today, Clouthier’s boy is between 13, 12, 10 and 4 years old – she said she doesn’t plan to have another child. But what if she did?
She smiled and said, “I’m sure it was a boy.”
According to a new study, it may be that some reason why children’s sexual behavior at birth may not be completely random.
The study, published July 18 in the journal Science Advances, examines maternal and genetic factors that affect the gender of offspring, after several co-authors looked at examples from friends, colleagues and family that produced all boys or all girls, they said, which raised questions about the problem.
They wrote in the study that Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health examined a data set of 58,007 American women, with two or more Singleton Live born and found that “every family may have a unique probability of male or female birth.”
“The data suggests that there may be some families with only girls, [and] “It’s more likely that families with only boys are only available,” Dr. Jorge Chavarro, a professor of nutrition and epidemiology and one of the authors of the study, told CBC News.
“Weighted Coins”
Specifically, mothers with three or three children are more likely to have all boys or all girls, which challenges the traditional view that the probability of being “random and independent” or you have a 50-50 chance of having a boy or girl each time you get pregnant.
They calculated that in families with three boys, there was a 61% chance of having another boy and 58% chance of having another girl.
“Similar to flipping a weighted coin with a probability of about 60-40,” Chavaro explained.
Dr. Sebastian Hobson, head of labor and childbirth at Toronto, said the study showed that it was in play rather than pure opportunity, not pure opportunity, not pure opportunity, said Dr. Sebastian Hobson, head of labor and childbirth in Toronto.
Hobson, who is also the Obstetrician and Gynecologist of the Canadian Society of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and was not involved in the study, noting that Harvard’s research is massive and methodically rigorous, but like any study, the results should be interpreted with caution.
He said the observed effects were small and causality could not be determined, and the large population was mainly white and the United States, so it could not be broadened globally. He added that they have not collected any information about biological fathers.
“Biology can push these probabilities a little bit, but predicting a child’s gender is still highly uncertain,” Hobson said.
“I think it’s a great study, but it’s not all and end all gender determination.”
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“Lost Lottery”
Previous research found that if the first two genders of a parent are the same, parents usually have a third child and usually want the third child to be the opposite. And, you just need to spend some time at school pickups, playgrounds and community pools to see that it isn’t always the case.
A study in the Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics refers to those who have three boys or three girls as parents who “lost the lottery.”
“If I every time someone says ‘I’m going to be a millionaire. She has three boys who are 15, 13 and 11 years old.
“For a while, it made me feel like I failed. It was like a terrible. How ridiculous is that?” she added. “I’m lucky. I’m complete.”
In a Harvard study, researchers found that families of two children were actually more likely to be the opposite sex or a boy or girl, which they suggested meant “couples are more inclined to stop reappearing when a balanced gender is reached.”
As for why some mothers are more likely to give birth to whole boys or whole girls, the author believes that some women are at high risk of having a specific gender offspring due to factors that affect sperm survival. Likewise, fertility behaviors may be strongly influenced by the gender of previous children, they added.
Furthermore, the authors found that older age in the early age may be a risk factor for recurring children of one gender. They say this may be due to biological changes in the body, such as shorter follicle phases and lower vaginal pH.
“Four boys, pity you”
Other studies explore the idea of gender disappointment, or the gender of parents’ children does not match what they want, and suggest that this is more common than we think.
“Gender disappointment in Western culture is primarily related to families’ desire for ‘gender balance’ – allowing children of every gender to experience becoming mothers of sons and mothers of daughters,” a 2023 study in BJPSych Bulletin Journal noted.
Kersiel said she was never disappointed with having four boys and that any negative emotions she encountered came from others. She explained that in many ways it is easier to have a gender of four kids, between the craftsmanship and equipment they already have on hand. Birthday party themes may overlap as well.
Yes, it can get loud and rough and has kid-sized holes in the drywall, but she points out that her boy is sweet, sensitive and adorable, too.
“I’ll still get comments all the time, and people say, ‘Four boys, pity you,'” Kersiel said.
I’ll say, ‘Yes, lucky me! ‘”
