Health News

New book claims smoking increases chances of child being gay in adulthood

Professor Dick Swaab 

Staff Reports | AMSTERDAM -- A professor of neurobiology at Amsterdam University has claimed that “Factors ranging from taking synthetic hormones to leading a stressful life can raise the chance of having a child who turns out to be gay.” 

In his new book-We Are Our Brains, Professor Dick Swaab specifically says that drinking or taking drugs can lower a child’s IQ and smoking or taking synthetic hormones could increase the chance of a girl becoming a lesbian or bisexual —specifically synthetic estrogen, which women took between 1939 and 1960 to prevent miscarriages.  "Pre-birth exposure to both nicotine and amphetamines increases the chance of lesbian daughters," he wrote.

Swaab also postulates that having older brothers will increase the chance that boys will become gay because during pregnancy; the mother’s immune system will have a stronger response to male hormones with each son, thus increasing the chances of having a gay son.
Moreover, Swaab also believes sexuality is determined in the womb and cannot be changed regardless of lifestyle, the Daily Mail reported.
“Children brought up by lesbians aren’t more likely to be homosexual. Nor is there any evidence at all for the misconception that homosexuality is a ‘lifestyle choice,’” Swaab wrote.

Prominent UK LGBTQ equality rights activist Peter Tatchell approves of Swaab's conclusions telling the Daily Mail;  “It is a slap down for religious and political homophobes. If being gay is mostly or wholly determined by biological factors prior to birth, it is immoral to condemn or discriminate against lesbians and gay men."

Swaab pointed out; “Pregnant women suffering from stress are also more likely to have homosexual children of both genders because their raised level of the stress hormone cortisol affects the production of foetal sex hormones.” He writes that the brain in foetuses begins to develop at two weeks, with anything that introduces toxins into the body having an impact on this development.

Swaab said lifestyle factors are just one influence, with genetics playing the most important role, but said the research proves that the development of the brain during pregnancy is directly linked to adult lifestyles.

The American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychology reports that drinking during pregnancy is the most common cause of birth defects causing brain damage to an unborn fetus in the United States. Other negative effects such as facial deformities, slow development, and neurological problems can also occur.
However, no study has shown a correlation between cigarette smoking during pregnancy and the sexuality of a child.