Heritable Factors Influence Sexual Orientation in Women
- 1 March 1993
- journal article
- research article
- Published by American Medical Association (AMA) in Archives of General Psychiatry
- Vol. 50 (3), 217-223
- https://doi.org/10.1001/archpsyc.1993.01820150067007
Abstract
• Homosexual female probands with monozygotic cotwins, dizygotic cotwins, or adoptive sisters were recruited using homophile publications. Sexual orientation of relatives was assessed either by asking relatives directly, or, when this was impossible, by asking the probands. Of the relatives whose sexual orientation could be confidently rated, 34 (48%) of 71 monozygotic cotwins, six (16%) of 37 dizygotic cotwins, and two (6%) of 35 adoptive sisters were homosexual. Probands also reported 10(14%) nontwin biologic sisters to be homosexual, although those sisters were not contacted to confirm their orientations. Heritabilities were significant using a wide range of assumptions about both the base rate of homosexuality in the population and ascertainment bias. The likelihood that a monozygotic cotwin would also be homosexual was unrelated to measured characteristics of the proband such as self-reported history of childhood gender nonconformity. Concordant monozygotic twins reported similar levels of childhood gender nonconformity.Keywords
This publication has 15 references indexed in Scilit:
- A Genetic Study of Male Sexual OrientationArchives of General Psychiatry, 1991
- The Minnesota Twin Family Registry: Some Initial FindingsActa geneticae medicae et gemellologiae: twin research, 1990
- Limitations of the Ratio of Concordance Rates in Monozygotic and Dizygotic TwinsArchives of General Psychiatry, 1989
- Recruitment bias in twin research: The rule of two-thirds reconsideredBehavior Genetics, 1987
- Evidence of Familial Nature of Male HomosexualityArchives of General Psychiatry, 1986
- Homosexuality in Monozygotic Twins Reared ApartThe British Journal of Psychiatry, 1986
- Psychoendocrine Research on Sexual Orientation. Current Status and Future OptionsPublished by Elsevier ,1984
- Homosexuality in female monozygotic twinsBehavior Genetics, 1973
- The Diagnosis of Twin ZygosityHuman Heredity, 1966
- Homosexuality and Heterosexuality in Identical TwinsPsychosomatic Medicine, 1960