Boys with older biological brothers more likely to be gay


Reuters reported on a new study by Dr. Anthony Bogaert of Brock University in Ontario which purports to show that the more older biological brothers a male child has, the more likely he is to be gay.

Boys with nonbiological older brothers were included in the study to see if the effect was due to family environment or child-rearing practices; it was not. The length of time that a boy was reared with older brothers was also not a factor. According to the news report, the authors think they have shown that the effect is prenatal, not psychosocial.

The hypothesis mentioned in the news report is that there could be an immune response to male fetuses that increases in strength with each such fetus and that this somehow influences the sexual orientation of the later boys.

Nevertheless, it is obvious that having older brothers isn't the only way to become gay, because I'm the oldest son in my family.

The study is titled "Biological versus nonbiological older brothers and men's sexual orientation". It appeared in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on June 28, 2006.

Posted: Tuesday - June 27, 2006 at 09:41 AM          

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