The Order Your Siblings Were Born In May Play A Role In Identity And Sexuality
The Order Your Siblings Were Born In May Play A Role In Identity And Sexuality  
Podcast: Short Wave
Published On: Wed Apr 10 2024
Description: It's National Siblings Day! To mark the occasion, guest host Selena Simmons-Duffin is exploring a detail very personal to her: How the number of older brothers a person has can influence their sexuality. Scientific research on sexuality has a dark history, with long-lasting harmful effects on queer communities. Much of the early research has also been debunked over time. But not this "fraternal birth order effect." The fact that a person's likelihood of being gay increases with each older brother has been found all over the world – from Turkey to North America, Brazil, the Netherlands and beyond. Today, Selena gets into all the details: What this effect is, how it's been studied and what it can (and can't) explain about sexuality.Interested in reading more about the science surrounding some of our closest relatives? Check out more stories in NPR's series on The Science of Siblings. Email us at shortwave@npr.org — we'd love to hear from you.To manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below:See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy