'Our deepest sadness': Britney Spears makes heartbreaking announcement she lost her 'miracle baby'. Prince Albert of Monaco makes surprise appearance watching West Ham in London - amid reports he agreed to pay his troubled wife Charlene £10million a YEAR 'This is not a sketch!': Graham Norton pokes fun at the UK's second place Eurovision success and 'what is happening' starts trending Louise Thompson celebrates son Leo turning 6 months old as she shares poignant message about aftermath of his traumatic birth Kissing in the street? For Normal People star Paul Mescal, 26, it's no problem as he puckers up with singer-songwriter Phoebe Bridgers Love Island's Laura Anderson exhibits her cleavage in a sparkly white maxi dress before romantic date with boyfriend Dane Bowers in DubaiĮurovision's Ukrainian champions rap from war-ravaged cities in newly released music video - which features children holding Molotov cocktailsĬarol Vorderman, 61, shows off her perky behind and ample assets in figure-hugging blue leggings and matching zip-up top Selling Sunset's Emma Hernan heads out on cozy date night with ex Peter Cornell in Newport Beach. Mama June's ex-fiancé Mike 'Sugar Bear' Thompson cleared of gum cancer, will have tumor removed except Amber Heard': Chris Rock brutally mocks the Aquaman actress during stand-up for 'sh**ing in Johnny Depp's bed' Stranger Things heartthrob David Harbour, 47, plants affectionate kiss on wife Lily Allen, 37, at premiere of part one of Netflix show's fourth season 'It has a double meaning!' Mika leaves his Eurovision co-hosts red-faced as he accidentally makes 'rude' gesture while hosting live show Social scientists also point out that the theory would mean the trend for smaller families in the Western world would mean fewer gay men, too, and that doesn't seem to be true either.ĭr Blanchard said, however: 'The theory that early childhood experiences lead to homosexuality has had 100 years and its supporters have come up with zip.' There are also higher levels of antibodies in the womb for subsequent sons which could affect the orientation of the brain.īut not all the experts believe Dr Blanchard's theory because there is no evidence that Roman Catholics and Mormons, who tend to have large families, produce more gay men. Second, third and subsequent unborn male babies in the womb are exposed to more testosterone - something which may go back to when younger siblings needed to be stronger to survive if food was scarce. But Dr Blanchard said a mother's body changes every time she gives birth to more than one son. His research was backed up by John Manning at the University of Central Lancashire in Preston, who said: 'It's one of the few reliable correlates of homosexuality that I know of.' Those with four older brothers were three times as likely. There was virtually no difference in numbers of other siblings - suggesting there is no truth in the theory that a lone boy with lots of sisters is more likely to grow up gay.ĭr Blanchard, of the Centre of Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto, said he initially thought the idea that being gay was more likely if a man had older brothers seemed 'absurd, egregious pseudoscience'.īut his studies showed those with an average of 2.5 older brothers were twice as likely to be gay as those with no older brothers. The gay men, had, on average, 1.32 older brothers compared to heterosexual men, who had an average ofĠ.96 older brothers.
All were white and none were twins, he told the journal New Scientist.
He studied the family backgrounds of 302 gay men and the same number of straight men. Now Canadian psychologist Ray Blanchard says the answer depends on how many older brothers a man has. However, the researchers think their findings are linked to what happens in the womb, rather than the effects of growing up among older boys.įor decades, academics have argued over nature versus nurture - whether individuals are born gay, or become gay because of where and how they grow up. Gay men had more older brothers, on average, than straight men, a study has found.įor every older brother a man has, the chances of him being gay increases by 33 per cent. Boys with older brothers are more likely to be homosexual than those with sisters, younger brothers or no siblings at all, according to research.