Measuring people's finger patterns may reveal some surprising information.
Abstract
Animal models have indicated that androgenic steroids acting before birth might influence the sexual orientation of adult humans. Here we examine the androgen-sensitive pattern of finger lengths1, and find evidence that homosexual women are exposed to more prenatal androgen than heterosexual women are; also, men with more than one older brother, who are more likely than first-born males to be homosexual in adulthood2, are exposed to more prenatal androgen than eldest sons. Prenatal androgens may therefore influence adult human sexual orientation in both sexes, and a mother's body appears to ‘remember’ previously carried sons, altering the fetal development of subsequent sons and increasing the likelihood of homosexuality in adulthood.
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Williams, T., Pepitone, M., Christensen, S. et al. Finger-length ratios and sexual orientation. Nature 404, 455–456 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1038/35006555
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/35006555
