Why baby boys outnumber girls at birth

I came across some interesting theories and hypotheses from researchers, and evolutionary biologists on why there is always a higher tally of males compared to females born each year.

Actually the average ratio is roughly 105 male births for every 100 female ones globally. And this is fairly consistent around the world, except for countries such as China and India where parents go the extra length to have male offspring because of the higher cultural value placed on male children in both countries.

The first theory is an evolutionary one which says that in order to have an equal number of males and females in adulthood, there has to be slightly more males born than females because being a male is a dangerous situation.

Males are more likely than females to die in childhood as they contract diseases more, also more likely to have babycot accident. Moreso this trend follows all stages of their lives because they live a more adventurous life, take more stewpid risks, and also work in more risky environments.

Men die more from accidents, taking their own lives and from health problems. They’re also less likely to go to see a doctor when they’re sick. And that’s why their insurance premium is higher compared to females.

Nature understands the fact that at every age, in almost every time and place, a man is more likely to die than a woman. So it compensates for the likely gender gap that may arise later in life by making more baby boys than girls so the extra may fill the gap.

According to this theory, more males than females at the start of life should mean equal numbers of men and women in adulthood, so the theory goes.

But inspite of this hard work by nature, by their 60th birthdays, the gap still appears as there would be more 60 year old women than men, more widows than widowers, and more spinsters women than bachelors.

Another school of thought believes that the sperm and timing plays a crucial role. This is because there are lots of different factors that could determine whether a male sperm (carrying a Y chromosome) or a female sperm (carrying an X chromosome) is first in the race to fertilise the woman’s egg. These include the ages of the parents, the woman’s ovulation cycle, and levels of stress, diet and sexual position.

There is this other theory that claims that the odds of having a girl increase by having sex several days before ovulation and then abstaining so that the female sperm, which live longer, but swim more slowly than male sperm, outlast their counterparts.

They claim that male sperm are the best swimmers but female sperm live longer. Conversely, if sex happens closer to ovulation or after it, the best swimmers get to the egg first and boys are produced. Nobody told me about this theory, maybe I would not have been daughterless.

Another research finding suggests that parental stress could lead to the birth of more girls, while living through wars and conflicts may give rise to more male conceptions.

This is called the Returning Soldier Effect. This however, is not a biological “plan” by the male body to compensate for losses. Instead, data shows it is a statistical side effect of stress, biology, and behavior.

After major wars, the sex ratio which is normally 105 boys per 100 girls experiences an upward shift to roughly 108 boys per 100 girls.

The first reason for this is that when soldiers return home, or displaced communities return to a relatively peaceful and comfortable environment, couples have more sexual intercourses.

And studies suggest that frequent intercourse slightly favors the conception of males due to the timing of ovulation or sperm weight, while less frequent intercourse favors females.

Across most Igbo communities, there are more males born between 1970, and 1971 than females. These harvest of male children apparently compensated for the lean harvest occasioned by the war as represented by the number of “Ọgueri” males born during the war.

War causes long-term stress and research indicates that male fetuses are more robust in the womb than female fetuses. Since stress increases miscarriage rates and miscarriages affect female fetuses slightly more often more girls are lost, making the ratio skew toward males.

Research indicates that male babies are generally more vulnerable to prenatal stress, making them more likely to suffer pregnancy loss or developmental complications.

By contrast, female babies are more resilient in the womb but can be impacted in different ways, such as displaying lasting behavioral and emotional changes.The effects of prenatal stress differ significantly between male and female fetuses:

Male fetuses are biologically more fragile. When a mother experiences high levels of physical or psychological stress, male babies are more likely to experience complications, premature delivery, or spontaneous abortion. Consequently, highly stressed mothers are statistically less likely to give birth to boys.

Female fetuses are better able to adapt to adverse environments and inflammatory processes in utero. However, this survival mechanism often means female babies are more sensitive to the long-term effects of a stressed prenatal environment.

This can manifest later as an increased risk for internalizing behaviors like anxiety, depression, or even earlier onset of puberty in firstborn daughters.

Some of these things are known unknowns and unknown knowns. But we still have a huge body of knowledge still under the unknown unknowns; that is, the things we do not know we do not know. One day, we will.

#demographics #genderreveal #GenderMatters