Theories On The Cause
Anthony Bogaert's work involving adoptees concludes that the effect is not due to being raised with older brothers, but is hypothesized to have something to do with changes induced in the mother's body when gestating a boy that affects subsequent sons. An in-utero maternal immune response has been hypothesized for this effect. The effect is present regardless of whether or not the older brothers are raised in the same family environment with the boy. There is no effect when the number of older brothers is increased by adopted brothers or step brothers.
The fraternal birth order effect appears to interact with handedness, as the incidence of homosexuality correlated with an increase in older brothers is seen only in right-handed males.
Bogaert (2006) replicated the fraternal birth order effect on male sexual orientation, in a sample including both biological siblings and adopted siblings. Only the older biological brothers influenced sexual orientation; there was no effect of adopted siblings. Bogaert concluded that his finding strongly suggest a prenatal origin to the fraternal birth-order effect.
McConaghy (2006) published in a sociological journal that he found no relationship between the strength of the effect and degree of homosexual feelings, rather than homosexual identity or homosexual behavior, leading him to conclude that the influence of birth order on degree of homosexual feelings was not due to a biological, but a social process.
Read more about this topic: Fraternal Birth Order And Male Sexual Orientation
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