Prenatal Hormones and Sexual Preference Research Papers

In the 1990's, research papers began to study the possible role of prenatal hormones in sexual preference and attraction. Even before birth, human beings manufacture and are shaped by hormones. The types of experiments that would be necessary to study this theory were, of course, unsafe to perform on humans. So, it was back to the rats and monkeys. Some studies have been possible on humans. One involved an examination of congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH). When this condition is present, the fetus has problems with the production of the hormone cortisol. In a healthy fetus, the brain is signaled when enough cortisol is produced and production is halted. In a fetus with CAH, the brain is never notified to shut off the cortisol. This will lead to an excess of male hormones in the developing fetus. A study by John Money of Johns Hopkins University in 1984 determined that among females who suffered from the prenatal CAH condition, 37% were either bisexual or lesbian. By comparison, the number of female bisexuals or lesbians in the general population is estimated to from two to four percent.

     Other studies concerning a prenatal hormonal connection to homosexual attraction have concentrated on the luteinizing-hormone (LH) feedback. In positive feedback, which occurs in heterosexual women, LH causes the production of eggs (other hormones are also involved), and the eggs spur the production of estrogen. The estrogen in turn prompts the brain to produce more LH. In heterosexual men, LH prompts negative feedback, and estrogen decreases the production of LH. Studies in rats determined that male rats could be changed during the prenatal period to experience positive feedback. Thus, studies were conducted to see if homosexual males experienced positive rather than negative LH feedback. Although a lot of work has been done in this area, results are inconclusive. The feedback pattern in humans may not even correspond fully to the patterns seen in rats.

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