Can the Current Economy Lead to More Baby Girls?

by Mary Ann Romans | More from this Blogger

01 Apr 2009 12:39 PM

Science has been studying the prevalence of one sex being born over another for many years. There is all sorts of data on the subject that suggest different factors that affect the outcome over whether or not you have a boy or a girl.

So far, we have seen studies that tell us that that better fed mothers tend to produce more boys, "beautiful-looking" people tend to produce more girls, parents closer to the equator have more girls, if you tend to suffer from pre-eclampsia then you also tend to have boys, and that the time of the month when you conceive can determine which gender you will be blessed with. Personally, my husband is of the opinion that you get whatever is going to challenge you at the moment. After having three kids, I am inclined to agree.

One thing that many different studies suggest is that during hard times, there are more girls born than boys. There are two theories that might explain this phenomena. One is that the male fetus tends to be more fragile. So while a slightly higher number of boys may be naturally conceived, all sorts of stresses, such as bad times, can intervene and can lead to miscarriage.

Another related theory comes from Dr Bill James of University College London, who makes studying such things his life's work. In an article about more girls being born in hotter climates, he is quoted in the BBC news as saying:

"The idea is that, in mammals, males have a greater variance in their reproductive success.

"Some have lots of offspring and others have none, whereas most females will have at least one offspring.

"So it pays a women who is reproductively fit in good times to have a boy because he may well give her more grandchildren.

"But when times are hard and if she is less reproductively fit, she is better off having a girl because in this way she should gain at least one grandchild."

Click here for more articles by Mary Ann Romans.

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Learn more about Mary Ann Romans

Mary Ann Romans is a freelance writer, wife and mother of three children. She lives in Pennsylvania with her husband, the kids and a 16-pound cat.

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gina00 (680) 01 Apr 2009 01:37 PM

This new format of families.com is really hard to read/access the different blogs! Is this permanent? The old format seemed a lot more reader friendly! Interesting blog, Mary Ann!

Mary Ann Romans (26881) 02 Apr 2009 05:52 AM

Gina,

Thanks for the comment. I believe that this current look is still in transition and that we should see some exciting new things soon. I will pass on your comments to the editor!