From the article:
'Athletes often conceive girls during the racing season because their testosterone levels are low.'
Never heard this. Anyone know?
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googling didn't seem to help on a quick perusal of the results. Lots of scientific stuff but more on the lines of:
Child Dev. 2002 Nov-Dec;73(6):1678-87.
Testosterone during pregnancy and gender role behavior of preschool children: a longitudinal, population study.
Hines M, Golombok S, Rust J, Johnston KJ, Golding J; Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children Study Team.
Source
Department of Psychology, City University, London, UK.
m.h...@city.ac.uk
Abstract
Levels of testosterone (T) and sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG) were measured in blood samples from pregnant women and related to gender role behavior in 342 male and 337 female offspring at the age of 3.5 years. Gender role behavior was assessed using the Pre-School Activities Inventory, a standardized measure on which a parent indicates the child's involvement with sex-typical toys, games, and activities. Levels of T, but not SHBG, related linearly to gender role behavior in preschool girls. Neither hormone related to gender role behavior in boys. Other factors, including the presence of older brothers or sisters in the home, parental adherence to traditional sex roles, the presence of a male partner in the home, and maternal education, did not relate to gender role behavior in this sample and did not account for the relation observed between T and behavior. Although other, unmeasured factors may explain the relation, the results suggest that normal variability in T levels prenatally may contribute to the development of individual differences in the gender role behavior of preschool girls.
PMID:
12487486
[PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
Or:
Fetal Testosterone Predicts
Sexually Differentiated Childhood
Behavior in Girls and in Boys
Bonnie Auyeung,1 Simon Baron-Cohen,1 Emma Ashwin,1 Rebecca Knickmeyer,1,2 Kevin Taylor,3
Gerald Hackett,4 and Melissa Hines5
Autism Research Centre, Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge; 2Department of Psychiatry, University of
North Carolina at Chapel Hill; 3Department of Clinical Biochemistry, Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge, United
Kingdom; 4Department of Fetal Medicine, Rosie Maternity Hospital, Cambridge, United Kingdom; and 5Department of
Social and Developmental Psychology, University of Cambridge