SMOKING and drug use during pregnancy can raise the chance of having a child who turns out to be gay

by veya_victaous Mon Jan 20, 2014 12:23 am

http://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/parenting/smoking-drugs-during-pregnancy-can-turn-baby-gay-neuroscientist-dick-swabb-claims/story-fnet08ck-1226805484784

SMOKING and drug use during pregnancy can raise the chance of having a child who turns out to be gay, a leading neuroscientist claims.
Dr Dick Swabb, professor of neurobiology at Amsterdam University, argues the development of the brain during pregnancy and early childhood is directly linked to the kind of people we become in adulthood, according to Britain’s Sunday Times.

Dr Swabb’s new book, We Are Our Brains, cites multiple academic studies showing how an expectant mother’s lifestyle could possibly affect her baby.

One compared women whose mothers were given synthetic oestrogen during pregnancy between 1939 and 1960 in order to reduce the risk of miscarriage. The drug worked as it was intended, but it also turned out to increase the likelihood of bisexuality and lesbianism in the daughters of the women who took it.

"Pre-birth exposure to both nicotine and amphetamines increases the chance of lesbian daughters," Dr Swabb says.

"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."

Dr Swabb also links a mother's alcohol intake to possible lower IQ in her child.

"In women who drink a lot, cells that were meant to migrate across the foetal brain can end up leaving the brain altogether," he said.

"Even in women who drink just a glass of wine a day we see effects [such as] lower IQ and hyperactivity. There is no safe level."

by veya_victaous Mon Jan 20, 2014 12:31 am

As easy as it would be to dismiss this as Homophobic (or Normalising if you are a homophobe) the Author is Actually a very legitimate researcher. He is very much into the Physiology and Chemical interactions in the brain, and seems a bit oblivious to the social implications of his work.

Swaab is best known for his research and discoveries in the field of brain anatomy and physiology, in particular the impact that various hormonal and biochemical factors in the womb have on brain development.[2] Another area of Swaab's work which has drawn much attention is his research on how Sexual dimorphism relates to brain anatomy, as well as research relating to homosexuality. Swaab, according to his own words through his years of research, came to the deterministic and materialistic conclusion that brains are not things we have, but rather brains are what we are: the physical and chemical processes in our brains determine how we react and who we are. Currently, Swaab is most active in the field of Alzheimer's research.[3]

Swaab's research has on several occasions produced controversy. After conducting research suggesting links between brain anatomy and sexual orientation, Swaab reports receiving death threats from individuals believing this work was attempting to 'pathologize' homosexuality and treat it as a biological abnormality or disorder.[4] Swaab's view that neither free will nor metaphysical entities such as souls or spirits exist has also caused negative reactions among various religious groups.[5][6] Swaab consistently defends his studies in the face of such criticism.[7]

from Wikipedia

by Guest Mon Jan 20, 2014 12:33 am

Dr. Dick Swabb

Mhm.

by Guest Mon Jan 20, 2014 12:40 am

He does seem to do a nice line in 'its the mum's fault' though I can see his reasoning, and as you say, he seems legit.

by veya_victaous Mon Jan 20, 2014 1:03 am

@QoH
I know Laughing

that why I looked up the name to see if it was Known Troll, was surprised to find the opposite.

@sassy,
Speaking as detached as Dr Swabb, I'd say the Mother for most of the pregnancy is really an incubator, we already have the capacity to 'modify' the development of bird and reptile eggs through minor changes to incubation. So this does seem to be a justified Theory, that changes to the Human incubation process would affect the offspring.

by Ben Reilly Mon Jan 20, 2014 2:43 am

I just question the value of researching the causes of sexual orientations, because shining that spotlight seems to be a way of saying "we consider this abnormal."

And lest we forget, Europeans didn't smoke tobacco until at least after their discovery of the Americas. I daresay they drank quite a bit, though. But what I'm getting at is obviously that gay people have been around in Europe for far longer than the continent has been importing tobacco.

Also, homosexual behavior itself is noted throughout the animal kingdom, so I think there's more to it than drinking and smoking. Interesting nonetheless.

by Guest Mon Jan 20, 2014 3:17 am

What about the mother that has two kids, in the space, of a couple of years or so, one turns out straight and the other gay.

....All a load of bollax imo!

My mum and dad were smokers, i think that my mum smoked during her pregnancy, because in the late 60's, there wasn't a problem!

by Guest Mon Jan 20, 2014 3:23 am

There is the buffer idea, and my mother had two miscarriages, before she had me....Not sure if she had taken any kind of legal drugs to get her past the miscarriages.

by Guest Mon Jan 20, 2014 3:26 am

Buffer idea...You have a gay child, then it leads to more successful pregnancies, there after.

by veya_victaous Mon Jan 20, 2014 3:45 am

@Cat and Ben
Well this guy’s work actually includes almost all social conditions; it just happens that the media focuses on the homosexual headline.
If you read his actual writing he refers to things that produce chemicals in the mother that are also created during extreme stress (also found in animal kingdom). This does sort of make sense because quite a number of animals can perform 'natural abortion' it times of extreme stress (droughts etc)

This Guy is PURE Chemistry/Biology
It sounds like he has got himself into trouble from either side because he is completely neutral to any Political/social consequence. It’s funny because to the LW is sounds like he is saying 'gays are the product of druggo mums', but to the RW it is saying 'gays are Born that way and NOT choosing'.

by Guest Mon Jan 20, 2014 3:52 am

veya_victaous wrote:@Cat and Ben
Well this guy’s work actually includes almost all social conditions; it just happens that the media focuses on the homosexual headline.
If you read his actual writing he refers to things that produce chemicals in the mother that are also created during extreme stress (also found in animal kingdom). This does sort of make sense because quite a number of animals can perform 'natural abortion' it times of extreme stress (droughts etc)

This Guy is PURE Chemistry/Biology
It sounds like he has got himself into trouble from either side because he is completely neutral to any Political/social consequence. It’s funny because to the LW is sounds like he is saying 'gays are the product of druggo mums', but to the RW it is saying 'gays are Born that way and NOT choosing'.

It's all crap imo...We have three gay guys on here, not sure about one of the others upbringing, but Les was brought up with a married mother and father, from what he has relayed, there was never any kind of conflicts etc....

..Like i said, bollax study.

by Guest Mon Jan 20, 2014 10:15 am

There's no doubt, from my experience of gay people, that they have had some trouble in the past - lesbians who had abusive male partners first and gay men who had abusive parents.

by Beekeeper Mon Jan 20, 2014 10:35 am

Queen Of Hearts wrote:

Dr. Dick Swabb

Mhm.

MY thoughts exactly...

He DOES do a good turn in his choice of a nom-de-plume for his book writing efforts, doesn't he ? Laughing

by Eilzel Mon Jan 20, 2014 6:08 pm

Catman wrote:
veya_victaous wrote:@Cat and Ben
Well this guy’s work actually includes almost all social conditions; it just happens that the media focuses on the homosexual headline.
If you read his actual writing he refers to things that produce chemicals in the mother that are also created during extreme stress (also found in animal kingdom). This does sort of make sense because quite a number of animals can perform 'natural abortion' it times of extreme stress (droughts etc)

This Guy is PURE Chemistry/Biology
It sounds like he has got himself into trouble from either side because he is completely neutral to any Political/social consequence. It’s funny because to the LW is sounds like he is saying 'gays are the product of druggo mums', but to the RW it is saying 'gays are Born that way and NOT choosing'.

It's all crap imo...We have three gay guys on here, not sure about one of the others upbringing, but Les was brought up with a married mother and father, from what he has relayed, there was never any kind of conflicts etc....

..Like i said, bollax study.

Exactly. It is nonesense. I don't doubt the research is neutral but evidence can be circumstantial rather than pointing to a clear association. There are so many gay people, from so many different backgrounds, it is impossible to pin it down to one or a few factors and as Ben says one of those didn't even exist in Europe until a just a few hundred years ago- where as homosexuality was still very much prevalent.

^sorry Andy, my parents were not abusive I'm happy to say, nor phil or David's as far as I'm aware. You might like to think you know a lot (or at least imply you do) but you are sadly very wrong here Smile

by Guest Mon Jan 20, 2014 7:39 pm

FGS, sometimes I wonder just how much we've achieved

Why on earth can't we accept that people are gay? Researching it to find out why, like it's not "normal"? Trying to lay blame as though it's something to be ashamed of.

SMOKING and drug use during pregnancy can raise the chance of having a child who turns out to be gay Smile120

SMOKING and drug use during pregnancy can raise the chance of having a child who turns out to be gay Smile120

by veya_victaous Mon Jan 20, 2014 10:12 pm

Regertting posting the orignal headline Neutral

The author is not saying there is anything wrong with homosexuals, and his work was not focused on homosexuals it is just the results of statisical analysis happens to show this and other things, the Media Choose Gay part for the headline

Similarly smoking, drinking and taking drugs designed to combat depression during pregnancy can lower a child’s IQ, while living in an area with high levels of traffic pollution can raise the risk of autism.

Swaab’s claims follow a survey of the latest academic studies about links between the lifestyles of pregnant women and the development of their babies. Each provides evidence of the sensitivity of the brain to outside influences.

"If you know about Brain development then it seems constantly amazing that it usually goes so well"

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