High rates of same-sex attraction/gender nonconformity in the offspring of mothers with thyroid dysfunction during pregnancy: proposal of prenatal thyroid model

Both youngsters and adults with same-sex attraction are at greater risk for negative health outcomes. Despite mounting efforts to determine the biological background, a satisfactory conclusion has not been reached and there is a need to explore alternate factors like functioning of thyroid system du...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Mental illness 2015-09, Vol.7 (2)
Main Author: Sabuncuoglu, Osman
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
adolescents
homosexuality
prenatal exposure delayed effect
Sexual orientation
thyroid diseases
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Summary:Both youngsters and adults with same-sex attraction are at greater risk for negative health outcomes. Despite mounting efforts to determine the biological background, a satisfactory conclusion has not been reached and there is a need to explore alternate factors like functioning of thyroid system during pregnancy. A retrospective chart review was undertaken of 790 eligible children and adolescents who had been admitted to child psychiatry between 2005 and 2013. This population consisted of 520 (65%) males and 270 (35%) females, aged 8 to 17 years. Fifteen mothers (1.8%) were found to have a history of thyroid dysfunction during pregnancy. Sixteen youngsters (2%) had a history of same-sex attraction. Twelve overlapping cases with both same-sex attraction and maternal thyroid dysfunction during pregnancy were identified, which was extremely significant (P
ISSN:2036-7457
2036-7465
DOI:10.4081/mi.2015.5810