I'm not able to find a source for this right now, but it is possible
that you may have a slightly higher chance of having a male child if
your genetics programme for higher androgen production (which is very
possible if you and your siblings are all male). Although the woman
usually has slightly more 'control' over homonal exposure ofthe foetus
than the male genes, it is possible that your genes may predispose the
genetic male characteristics. Interestingly, if your genes do indeed
predispose the foetus to higher levels of androgens (i.e.
testosterone, or in the case of the foetus, dihydrotestosterone), if
the child is female, she may show more 'masculine' characteristics
(I'm not saying she may be gay, just that she may be better at 'male'
things like maths/spatial skills, or more likely to be left-handed).
There is a quick way to tell if you were exposed to high levels of
testosterone in the womb by measuring your ring and pointer fingers in
millimeters (palm-side up, from the 'basal' crease between finger and
palm to the finger tip). Divide the pointer measurement by the ring.
Women typically have a ratio of around 1.0, while males usually have
around .98-.99. The lower the ratio, the higher the level of prenatal
testosterone you were exposed to. Check out wikipedia's page on the
topic: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digit_ratio If you do have a low
ratio, it is likely you are genetically programmed to produce more
testosterone and may therefore be more likely to have male children,
but you should also note that other factors may be at work when
determining your prenatal hormone exposure, such as maternal stress,
etc.
I hope that helps somewhat! |