People with at least 4 male siblings. Is one of you gay?

[Maraya1969]

Someone told me the other day that if there are 4 boys in a family there is a 95% chance one of them will be gay. I realize this is not a scientific poll but I am kind of interested if there is some truth to this.

[MissMillie]

1. my family defies all the statistics

6 kids: 4 female, 2 male

3 of these kids are gay: 2 women, 1 man

[NewWaveChick1981]

2. I don't have four male siblings, but....

...I am the oldest of three. I am female and I have a sister (middle child) and brother (youngest). My brother is gay, I am bi, and my sister is straight. :) Dunno if that helps you, but that's how it ended up in my family.

[ohiosmith]

3. Three of five survived to childhood. One was gay. He died from AIDS in 1989.

[Zuiderelle]

4. I have a friend with 7 male siblings, and 2 are gay.

[eyesroll]

5. I have a former co-worker who was one of 14 kids...I don't remember the M/F breakdown...

But he and a brother were both gay. None of his sisters were.

[Richardo]

6. I only have 3 male siblings - none are gay, but, of my 33 first cousins...

At least 2 are gay.

[Archae]

7. My Dad is the youngest of 7 brothers...

None of them were/are gay. :shrug:

[Connonym]

8. at least not openly

Especially if they live in WI. I have 4 sibs and tons and tons of cousins but no openly gay family members. I tend to think that statistically speaking some of them must be. Same think with my ex, who between his two parents has over 30 aunts and uncles (by blood), none of whom were/are openly gay.

[Bunny]

9. I have five brothers, and one of them is, in fact, gay.

[Parche]

10. siblings

Guess.......:hi:

[fishnfla]

11. 5 boys, and no

I dunno so dont flame me i thought the ratio was like 10%?

[SacredCow]

14. I've heard numbers from 0.02% to 25%.....

I don't think there's any way to know this number, frankly.

[Maraya1969]

28. This person was specifically talking about families that have 4 or more boys

I have no idea why that would make a difference.

[LaurenG]

12. My family 3 male siblings, one gay

My husbands step-family 3 male siblings one gay. My very first boyfriend, three male siblings, he was gay.

[Deep13]

13. Only son (one sister). 1/4 of me is gay.

I'm not sure which quarter it is, but I have suspected my left leg for awhile.

[NV Whino]

22. Is that the one that taps?

[Deep13]

27. Yes! You've seen it too! n/t

[Jimbo S]

15. Statistically speaking

by pure random chance it's a 12% chance at least one male will be gay. I'm assuming 3% of adult males are gay.

If genetics are involved, then I'm guessing the odds will be different. But the research is still out the genetics-homosexuality connection. Disclaimer: not making any judgements on anybody.

[HERVEPA]

30. I come up with 18%

1 - (.97 ** 4) (.97 to the fourth power)

[Jimbo S]

32. Yep, that's the same formula I used.

1 - 0.97^4

= 1 - 0.8853

= 12%

[HERVEPA]

38. Yup. I miscalulated

[cobalt1999]

16. 5 boys in our family

None are gay though.

[SOteric]

17. I have 4 brothers,

each of whom is a hetero male. I'm a hetero female. :shrug:

[Roon]

18. My ex is one of 7 brothers

Two of them are gay.

[Quakerfriend]

19. Well, I have five male cousins and 2 of them are gay.

[lost-in-nj]

20. I had 2 brothers and 1 sister

both brothers were gay......

me and my sister are straight


:shrug: :shrug:


lost

[Mz Pip]

21. Wonder how many

of Mitwit's boys are Gay. None are in the military...

Mz Pip
:dem:

[Xipe Totec]

23. Yes

four male siblings. The youngest is gay.

[grace0418]

24. 5 brothers. All are straight.

FWIW.

[Mike03]

25. I think this is true

My recollection is that my source is a Teaching Company Tape on Neurobiology and human behavior, but I'm not positive.

I think this has to do with placement of fetuses in the womb and their exposure to diminishing levels of testosterone or estrogen--exposure to sexual hormones over time, over the course of either multiple births at the same time or over the course of time.

It's very interesting. I wish I knew more about this.

[FarLeftRage]

26. No

Not one...

[TK421]

29. I have five brothers, every one straight...and so am I

What a strange statement that person made to you. I guess their way of thinking leans towards the larger the family, the better the probability of it.

[Breeze54]

31. I have 3 brothers and 3 sons...

none are gay.

[QueenOfCalifornia]

33. I know

someone with 3 boys and one is gay. I also know someone else with 3 boys and they are all straight.

[OnceUponTimeOnTheNet]

34. 4 brothers and 5 sisters. All Married & Straight.

None of our adult kids are gay either, that I know of. Hope this answer helps.

[Burma Jones]

35. I'm the oldest of five brothers, all straight

[TorchTheWitch]

36. I have 4 brothers - the oldest is in fact gay

For a minute there I was wondering if you knew my family!

For the record, the whole family including both parents have always been supportive of him. He's a marvelous, extraordinary, incredible human being, and we love him like crazy.

[mzteris]

37. my dad was the youngest of 5 brothers

(and two older and two younger sisters.)

I'm pretty sure NONE of them were gay.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

39. i think they recently did a study of this and that was the finding of the study

[Sweet Freedom]

40. I agree

I seem to recall that a study was done, but I could have sworn it was 3 males. (The reason I remember that is my ex is one of three brothers and one is gay, my ex FIL is one of three brothers and one is gay, I have a co-worker who is one of three brothers and one is gay, and my boss is one of three brothers and one is gay, so we had several discussions about it.)

[La Lioness Priyanka]

41. it was 3 males.

[Tyler Durden]

42. My brother IS an asshole....

does that count? Not saying gay men are assholes, but that orifice DOES figure strongly...

Oh forget it.

[SarahB]

43. I have four boys.

They are 6, 9, 12 and 12 (steps, not twins). The 12 years olds have openly had crushes on girls, so has the 9 year old (been "in love" with one after another since Kindergarten). My 6 year old doesn't seem to care one way or another, but a year ago he did say to me, "Mommy, someday I want to marry someone with big boobies." While there are some men out there like that, I'm guessing he is going to like the ladies too.
The thing that gets me is it wouldn't be a issue at all if one of our children were gay, but the poor kids who are seem to end up in these repressive, conservative families. :(

[La Lioness Priyanka]

46. not always, i knew someone whose parents threw her a coming out party.

maybe one of your boys will end up bi. maybe they will all be straight. :P

[Der Blaue Engel]

44. Here's some info on the study your friend is referencing

http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20060701/fob1.asp

Gay Males' Sibling Link: Men's homosexuality tied to having older brothers
Bruce Bower (Science News Online)

Birth order may steer some men toward homosexuality in a process that perhaps begins before birth. A new study finds that homosexuality grows more likely with the greater number of biological older brothers—those sharing both father and mother—that a male has.

Men display this tendency toward homosexuality even if they weren't raised with biological older brothers, finds psychologist Anthony F. Bogaert of Brock University in St. Catharines, Ontario. No gay connection appears in men raised with half-brothers, stepbrothers, or adoptive brothers, all deemed non-biological by Bogaert.

"The mechanism underlying this fraternal birth-order effect remains unknown," Bogaert says. It's possible that succeeding pregnancies with male fetuses trigger a maternal immune response. A mother's immune system may treat male fetuses as foreign bodies, attacking them with antibodies that alter sex-related brain development, the Canadian psychologist suggests.

Scientists haven't yet looked for any specific immune reaction during pregnancy that targets later-born boys who become homosexual.

[Midlodemocrat]

45. Four brothers. All are straight. As am I.