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December 1991, Vol 48, No. 12 >
Article | December 1991

A Genetic Study of Male Sexual Orientation

J. Michael Bailey, PhD; Richard C. Pillard, MD
[+] Author Affiliations

Accepted for pubilcation July 31, 1991.

Reprint requests to Department of Psychology, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208 (Dr Bailey).


Arch Gen Psychiatry. 1991;48(12):1089-1096. doi:10.1001/archpsyc.1991.01810360053008
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Comments

• Homosexual male probands with monozygotic cotwins, dizygotic cotwins, or adoptive brothers were recruited using homophile publications. Sexual orientation of relatives was assessed either by asking relatives directly, or when this was impossible, asking the probands. Of the relatives whose sexual orientation could be rated, 52% (29/56) of monozygotic cotwins, 22% (12/54) of dizygotic cotwins, and 11% (6/57) of adoptive brothers were homosexual. Heritabilities were substantial under a wide range of assumptions about the population base rate of homosexuality and ascertainment bias. However, the rate of homosexuality among nontwin biological siblings, as reported by probands, 9.2% (13/142), was significantly lower than would be predicted by a simple genetic hypothesis and other published reports. A proband's self-reported history of childhood gender nonconformity did not predict homosexuality in relatives in any of the three subsamples. Thus, childhood gender nonconformity does not appear to be an indicator of genetic loading for homosexuality. Cotwins from concordant monozygotic pairs were very similar for childhood gender nonconformity.

REFERENCES

1 +
Ellis L, Ames MA.  Neurohormonal functioning and sexual orientation: a theory of homosexuality-heterosexuality . Psychol Bull . 1987;;101:233-258.
2 +
Ruse M. Homosexuality . New York, NY: Basil Blackwell Publisher; 1988;.
3 +
Weinrich JD. Sexual Landscapes . New York, NY: Charles Scribner's Sons; 1987;.
4 +
Brown R. Social Psychology . 2nd ed. New York, NY: Free Press; 1986;.
5 +
Bell AP, Weinberg MS, Hammersmith SK. Sexual Preference: Its Development in Men and Women . Bloomington, Ind: Indiana University Press; 1981;.
6 +
Stoller RJ, Herdt GH.  Theories of origins of male homosexuality: a cross-cultural look . Arch Gen Psychiatry . 1985;;42:399-404.
7 +
Dörner G, Hinz G.  Induction and prevention of male homosexuality by androgens . J Endocrinol . 1968;;40:387-388.
8 +
Baum MJ.  Effects of testosterone propionate administered perinatally on sexual behavior of female ferrets . J Comp Physiol Psychol . 1976;;90:399-410.
9 +
Goy RW, Wolf JE, Eisele SG.  Experimental female hermaphroditism in rhesus monkeys: anatomical and psychological characteristics . In: Money J, Musaph H, eds. Handbook of Sexology . New York, NY: Elsevier Science Publishing Co Inc; 1977;:139-156.
10 +
Green R. The'Sissy Boy Syndrome' and the Development of Homosexuality . New Haven, Conn: Yale University Press; 1987;.
11 +
Grellert EA, Newcomb MD, Bentler PM.  Childhood play activities of male and female homosexuals and heterosexuals . Arch Sex Behav . 1982;;11:451-478.
12 +
Freund K, Langevin R, Satterberg J, Steiner B.  Extension of the gender identity scale for males : Arch Sex Behav . 1977;;6:507-519.
13 +
Ehrhardt AA, Meyer-Bahlburg HFL, Rosen LR, Feldman JF, Veridiano NP, Zimmerman I, McEwen BS.  Sexual orientation after prenatal exposure to exogenous estrogens . Arch Sex Behav . 1985;;14:57-77.
14 +
Money J, Schwartz M, Lewis VG.  Adult erotosexual status and fetal hormonal masculinization and demasculinization . Psychoneuroendocrinology . 1984;;9:405-414.
15 +
Dörner G, Rohde W, Stahl F, Krell L, Masius WG.  A neuroendocrine predisposition for homosexuality in men . Arch Sex Behav . 1975;;4:1-8.
16 +
Gladue BA, Green R, Hellman RE.  Neuroendocrine response to estrogen and sexual orientation . Science . 1984;;225:1469-1499.
17 +
Pillard RC, Weinrich JD.  The periodic table model of the gender transpositions, I: a theory based on masculinization and defeminization of the brain . J Sex Res . 1987;;23:425-454.
18 +
Meyer-Bahlburg H.  Psychoendocrine research on sexual orientation: current status and future options . In: De Vries GJ, De Bruin JPC, Uylings HMB, Corner MA, eds. Progress in Brain Research . Amsterdam, the Netherlands: Elsevier Science Publishers; 1984;;61:375-398.
19 +
Adkins-Regan E.  Sex hormones and sexual orientation in animals . Psychobiology . 1988;;16:335-347.
20 +
Hendricks SE, Graber B, Rodriguez-Sierra JF.  Neuroendocrine responses to exogenous estrogen: no differences between heterosexual and homosexual men . Psychoneuroendocrinology . 1989;;14:177-185.
21 +
Gooren L.  The neuroendocrine response of luteinizing hormone to estrogen administration in heterosexual, homosexual, and transsexual subjects . J Clin Endocrinol Metab . 1986;;63:583-588.
22 +
Gooren L.  The neuroendocrine response of luteinizing hormone to estrogen administration in humans is not sex specific but dependent on the hormonal environment . J Clin Endocrinol Metab . 1986;;63:589-593.
23 +
Bayer R. Homosexuality and American Psychiatry . New York, NY: Basic Books Inc Publishers; 1981;.
24 +
Klassen AD, Williams CJ, Levitt EE. Sex and Morality in the U.S . Middletown, Conn: Wesleyan University Press; 1989;.
25 +
Ernulf KE, Innala SM, Whitam FL.  Biological explanation, psychological explanation, and tolerance of homosexuals: a cross-national analysis of beliefs and attitudes . Psychol Rep . 1989;;65:1003-1010.
26 +
Plomin R, DeFries JC, McLearn GE. Behavioral Genetics: A Primer . New York, NY: WH Freeman & Co; 1989;.
27 +
Plomin R.  The role of inheritance in behavior . Science . 1990;;248:183-188.
28 +
Bouchard TJ, Lykken DT, McGue M, Segal NL, Tellegen A.  Sources of human psychological differences: the Minnesota study of twins reared apart . Science . 1990;;250:223-228.
29 +
Pillard RC, Weinrich JD.  Evidence of familial nature of male homosexuality . Arch Gen Psychiatry . 1986;;43:808-812.
30 +
Kallmann FJ.  Twin and sibship study of overt male homosexuality . Am J Hum Genet . 1952;;4:136-146.
31 +
Kallmann FJ.  Comparative twin study on the genetic aspects of male homosexuality . J Nerv Ment Dis . 1952;;115:283-298.
32 +
Rosenthal D. Genetic Theory and Abnormal Behavior . New York, NY: McGraw-Hill International Book Co; 1970;.
33 +
Pillard RC, Poumadere J, Carretta RA.  Is homosexuality familial? a review, some data, and a suggestion . Arch Sex Behav . 1981;;10:465-475.
34 +
Eckert ED, Bouchard TJ, Bohlen J, Heston LL.  Homosexuality in monozygotic twins reared apart . Br J Psychiatry . 1986;;148:421-425.
35 +
Buhrich NJ, Bailey JM, Martin NG.  Sexual orientation, sexual identity, and sex-dimorphic behaviors in male twins . Behav Genet . 1991;;21:75-96.
36 +
Zucker KH.  Cross-gender identified children . In: Steiner BW, ed. Gender Dysphoria: Development, Research, Management . New York, NY: Plenum Press; 1985;.
37 +
Zuger B.  Effeminate behavior in boys from childhood: ten additional years of follow-up . Compr Psychiatry . 1978;;19:363-369.
38 +
Pillard RC.  Masculinity and femininity in homosexuality: 'inversion' revisited . In: Gonzoriek JC, Weinrich JD, eds. Homosexuality: Research Findings for Public Policy . Beverly Hills, Calif: Sage Publications Inc; 1991;.
39 +
Kinsey AC, Pomeroy WB, Martin CE. Sexual Behavior in the Human Male . Philadelphia, Pa: WB Saunders Co; 1948;.
40 +
Nichols RC, Bilbro WC.  The diagnosis of twin zygosity . Acta Genet Stat Med . 1966;;16:265-275.
41 +
Cederlof R, Friberg L, Jonsson E, Kaij L.  Studies on similarity diagnosis in twins with the aid of mailed questionnaires . Acta Genet Stat Med . 1961;;11:338-362.
42 +
Ooki S, Asaka A, Yamada K, Asaka A, Hayakawa K.  Zygosity diagnosis of twins by questionnaire . Acta Genet Med Gemellol (Roma) . 1990;;39:109-115.
43 +
Lykken DT.  The diagnosis of zygosity in twins . Behav Genet . 1978;;8:437-474.
44 +
Martin NG, Martin PG.  The inheritance of scholastic abilities in a sample of twins, I: ascertainment of the sample and diagnosis of zygosity . Ann Hum Genet . 1975;;39:213-218.
45 +
Blanchard R, McConkey JG, Roper V, Steiner BW.  Measuring physical aggressiveness in heterosexual, homosexual, and transsexual males . Arch Sex Behav . 1983;;12:511-524.
46 +
Mitchell J, Zucker K. The recalled Childhood Gender Behaviors Questionnaire: dysphoric properties. Presented at the 17th Annual Meeting of the International Academy of Sex Research; August 6-10, 1991; Barrie, Ontario.
47 +
Nunnally J. Psychometric Theory . 2nd ed. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill International Book Co; 1978;.
48 +
Kendler KS.  Limitations of the ratio of concordance rates in monozygotic and dizygotic twins . Arch Gen Psychiatry . 1989;;46:477-478.
49 +
Gottesman II, Carey G.  Extracting meaning and direction from twin data . Psychiatr Dev . 1983;;1:35-50.
50 +
Gebhard P. Incidence of overt homosexuality in the United States and western Europe. In: Livingood JM, ed. National Institute of Mental Health Task Force on Homosexuality: Final Report and Background Papers. US Dept of Health, Education, and Welfare publication HSM 72-9116; 1972:22-29.
51 +
Fay RE, Turner CF, Klassen AD, Gagnon JH.  Prevalence and patterns of same-gender sexual contact among men . Science . 1989;;243:338-348.
52 +
Voeller B.  Some uses and abuses of the Kinsey scale . In: McWhirter D, Sanders SA, Reinisch JM, eds. Homosexuality/ Heterosexuality: Concepts of Sexual Orientation . New York, NY: Oxford University Press Inc; 1990;:32-38.
53 +
Lykken DT, McGue M, Tellegen A.  Recruitment bias in twin research: the rule of two-thirds reconsidered . Behav Genet . 1987;;17:343-362.
54 +
Neale MC. Statistical Modeling Using MX . Richmond, Va: Medical College of Virginia/Virginia Commonwealth University; 1991;.
55 +
Kendler KS, Eaves LJ.  The estimation of probandwise concordance in twins: the effect of unequal ascertainment . Acta Genet Med Gemellol (Roma) . 1989;;38:253-270.
56 +
Heston LL, Shields J.  Homosexuality in twins: a family study and a registry study . Arch Gen Psychiatry . 1968;;18:149-160.
57 +
Bell AP, Weinberg MS. Homosexualities: A Study of Diversity Among Men and Women . New York, NY: Simon & Schuster Inc Publishers; 1978;.
58 +
Hutchinson GE.  A speculative consideration of certain possible forms of sexual selection in man . Am Naturalist . 1959;;93:81-91.
59 +
Weinrich JD.  A new sociobiological theory of homosexuality applicable to societies with universal marriage . Ethol Sociobiol . 1987;;8:37-47.
60 +
Ruse M.  Are there gay genes? sociobiology and homosexuality . J Homosex . 1981;;6:5-34.
61 +
Vogel F, Motulsky AG. Human Genetics . 2nd ed. Berlin, Federal Republic of Germany: Springer-Verlag; 1986;.

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Use interactive graphics and maps to view and sort country-specific infant and early dhildhood mortality and growth failure data and their association with maternal

1 +
Ellis L, Ames MA.  Neurohormonal functioning and sexual orientation: a theory of homosexuality-heterosexuality . Psychol Bull . 1987;;101:233-258.
2 +
Ruse M. Homosexuality . New York, NY: Basil Blackwell Publisher; 1988;.
3 +
Weinrich JD. Sexual Landscapes . New York, NY: Charles Scribner's Sons; 1987;.
4 +
Brown R. Social Psychology . 2nd ed. New York, NY: Free Press; 1986;.
5 +
Bell AP, Weinberg MS, Hammersmith SK. Sexual Preference: Its Development in Men and Women . Bloomington, Ind: Indiana University Press; 1981;.
6 +
Stoller RJ, Herdt GH.  Theories of origins of male homosexuality: a cross-cultural look . Arch Gen Psychiatry . 1985;;42:399-404.
7 +
Dörner G, Hinz G.  Induction and prevention of male homosexuality by androgens . J Endocrinol . 1968;;40:387-388.
8 +
Baum MJ.  Effects of testosterone propionate administered perinatally on sexual behavior of female ferrets . J Comp Physiol Psychol . 1976;;90:399-410.
9 +
Goy RW, Wolf JE, Eisele SG.  Experimental female hermaphroditism in rhesus monkeys: anatomical and psychological characteristics . In: Money J, Musaph H, eds. Handbook of Sexology . New York, NY: Elsevier Science Publishing Co Inc; 1977;:139-156.
10 +
Green R. The'Sissy Boy Syndrome' and the Development of Homosexuality . New Haven, Conn: Yale University Press; 1987;.
11 +
Grellert EA, Newcomb MD, Bentler PM.  Childhood play activities of male and female homosexuals and heterosexuals . Arch Sex Behav . 1982;;11:451-478.
12 +
Freund K, Langevin R, Satterberg J, Steiner B.  Extension of the gender identity scale for males : Arch Sex Behav . 1977;;6:507-519.
13 +
Ehrhardt AA, Meyer-Bahlburg HFL, Rosen LR, Feldman JF, Veridiano NP, Zimmerman I, McEwen BS.  Sexual orientation after prenatal exposure to exogenous estrogens . Arch Sex Behav . 1985;;14:57-77.
14 +
Money J, Schwartz M, Lewis VG.  Adult erotosexual status and fetal hormonal masculinization and demasculinization . Psychoneuroendocrinology . 1984;;9:405-414.
15 +
Dörner G, Rohde W, Stahl F, Krell L, Masius WG.  A neuroendocrine predisposition for homosexuality in men . Arch Sex Behav . 1975;;4:1-8.
16 +
Gladue BA, Green R, Hellman RE.  Neuroendocrine response to estrogen and sexual orientation . Science . 1984;;225:1469-1499.
17 +
Pillard RC, Weinrich JD.  The periodic table model of the gender transpositions, I: a theory based on masculinization and defeminization of the brain . J Sex Res . 1987;;23:425-454.
18 +
Meyer-Bahlburg H.  Psychoendocrine research on sexual orientation: current status and future options . In: De Vries GJ, De Bruin JPC, Uylings HMB, Corner MA, eds. Progress in Brain Research . Amsterdam, the Netherlands: Elsevier Science Publishers; 1984;;61:375-398.
19 +
Adkins-Regan E.  Sex hormones and sexual orientation in animals . Psychobiology . 1988;;16:335-347.
20 +
Hendricks SE, Graber B, Rodriguez-Sierra JF.  Neuroendocrine responses to exogenous estrogen: no differences between heterosexual and homosexual men . Psychoneuroendocrinology . 1989;;14:177-185.
21 +
Gooren L.  The neuroendocrine response of luteinizing hormone to estrogen administration in heterosexual, homosexual, and transsexual subjects . J Clin Endocrinol Metab . 1986;;63:583-588.
22 +
Gooren L.  The neuroendocrine response of luteinizing hormone to estrogen administration in humans is not sex specific but dependent on the hormonal environment . J Clin Endocrinol Metab . 1986;;63:589-593.
23 +
Bayer R. Homosexuality and American Psychiatry . New York, NY: Basic Books Inc Publishers; 1981;.
24 +
Klassen AD, Williams CJ, Levitt EE. Sex and Morality in the U.S . Middletown, Conn: Wesleyan University Press; 1989;.
25 +
Ernulf KE, Innala SM, Whitam FL.  Biological explanation, psychological explanation, and tolerance of homosexuals: a cross-national analysis of beliefs and attitudes . Psychol Rep . 1989;;65:1003-1010.
26 +
Plomin R, DeFries JC, McLearn GE. Behavioral Genetics: A Primer . New York, NY: WH Freeman & Co; 1989;.
27 +
Plomin R.  The role of inheritance in behavior . Science . 1990;;248:183-188.
28 +
Bouchard TJ, Lykken DT, McGue M, Segal NL, Tellegen A.  Sources of human psychological differences: the Minnesota study of twins reared apart . Science . 1990;;250:223-228.
29 +
Pillard RC, Weinrich JD.  Evidence of familial nature of male homosexuality . Arch Gen Psychiatry . 1986;;43:808-812.
30 +
Kallmann FJ.  Twin and sibship study of overt male homosexuality . Am J Hum Genet . 1952;;4:136-146.
31 +
Kallmann FJ.  Comparative twin study on the genetic aspects of male homosexuality . J Nerv Ment Dis . 1952;;115:283-298.
32 +
Rosenthal D. Genetic Theory and Abnormal Behavior . New York, NY: McGraw-Hill International Book Co; 1970;.
33 +
Pillard RC, Poumadere J, Carretta RA.  Is homosexuality familial? a review, some data, and a suggestion . Arch Sex Behav . 1981;;10:465-475.
34 +
Eckert ED, Bouchard TJ, Bohlen J, Heston LL.  Homosexuality in monozygotic twins reared apart . Br J Psychiatry . 1986;;148:421-425.
35 +
Buhrich NJ, Bailey JM, Martin NG.  Sexual orientation, sexual identity, and sex-dimorphic behaviors in male twins . Behav Genet . 1991;;21:75-96.
36 +
Zucker KH.  Cross-gender identified children . In: Steiner BW, ed. Gender Dysphoria: Development, Research, Management . New York, NY: Plenum Press; 1985;.
37 +
Zuger B.  Effeminate behavior in boys from childhood: ten additional years of follow-up . Compr Psychiatry . 1978;;19:363-369.
38 +
Pillard RC.  Masculinity and femininity in homosexuality: 'inversion' revisited . In: Gonzoriek JC, Weinrich JD, eds. Homosexuality: Research Findings for Public Policy . Beverly Hills, Calif: Sage Publications Inc; 1991;.
39 +
Kinsey AC, Pomeroy WB, Martin CE. Sexual Behavior in the Human Male . Philadelphia, Pa: WB Saunders Co; 1948;.
40 +
Nichols RC, Bilbro WC.  The diagnosis of twin zygosity . Acta Genet Stat Med . 1966;;16:265-275.
41 +
Cederlof R, Friberg L, Jonsson E, Kaij L.  Studies on similarity diagnosis in twins with the aid of mailed questionnaires . Acta Genet Stat Med . 1961;;11:338-362.
42 +
Ooki S, Asaka A, Yamada K, Asaka A, Hayakawa K.  Zygosity diagnosis of twins by questionnaire . Acta Genet Med Gemellol (Roma) . 1990;;39:109-115.
43 +
Lykken DT.  The diagnosis of zygosity in twins . Behav Genet . 1978;;8:437-474.
44 +
Martin NG, Martin PG.  The inheritance of scholastic abilities in a sample of twins, I: ascertainment of the sample and diagnosis of zygosity . Ann Hum Genet . 1975;;39:213-218.
45 +
Blanchard R, McConkey JG, Roper V, Steiner BW.  Measuring physical aggressiveness in heterosexual, homosexual, and transsexual males . Arch Sex Behav . 1983;;12:511-524.
46 +
Mitchell J, Zucker K. The recalled Childhood Gender Behaviors Questionnaire: dysphoric properties. Presented at the 17th Annual Meeting of the International Academy of Sex Research; August 6-10, 1991; Barrie, Ontario.
47 +
Nunnally J. Psychometric Theory . 2nd ed. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill International Book Co; 1978;.
48 +
Kendler KS.  Limitations of the ratio of concordance rates in monozygotic and dizygotic twins . Arch Gen Psychiatry . 1989;;46:477-478.
49 +
Gottesman II, Carey G.  Extracting meaning and direction from twin data . Psychiatr Dev . 1983;;1:35-50.
50 +
Gebhard P. Incidence of overt homosexuality in the United States and western Europe. In: Livingood JM, ed. National Institute of Mental Health Task Force on Homosexuality: Final Report and Background Papers. US Dept of Health, Education, and Welfare publication HSM 72-9116; 1972:22-29.
51 +
Fay RE, Turner CF, Klassen AD, Gagnon JH.  Prevalence and patterns of same-gender sexual contact among men . Science . 1989;;243:338-348.
52 +
Voeller B.  Some uses and abuses of the Kinsey scale . In: McWhirter D, Sanders SA, Reinisch JM, eds. Homosexuality/ Heterosexuality: Concepts of Sexual Orientation . New York, NY: Oxford University Press Inc; 1990;:32-38.
53 +
Lykken DT, McGue M, Tellegen A.  Recruitment bias in twin research: the rule of two-thirds reconsidered . Behav Genet . 1987;;17:343-362.
54 +
Neale MC. Statistical Modeling Using MX . Richmond, Va: Medical College of Virginia/Virginia Commonwealth University; 1991;.
55 +
Kendler KS, Eaves LJ.  The estimation of probandwise concordance in twins: the effect of unequal ascertainment . Acta Genet Med Gemellol (Roma) . 1989;;38:253-270.
56 +
Heston LL, Shields J.  Homosexuality in twins: a family study and a registry study . Arch Gen Psychiatry . 1968;;18:149-160.
57 +
Bell AP, Weinberg MS. Homosexualities: A Study of Diversity Among Men and Women . New York, NY: Simon & Schuster Inc Publishers; 1978;.
58 +
Hutchinson GE.  A speculative consideration of certain possible forms of sexual selection in man . Am Naturalist . 1959;;93:81-91.
59 +
Weinrich JD.  A new sociobiological theory of homosexuality applicable to societies with universal marriage . Ethol Sociobiol . 1987;;8:37-47.
60 +
Ruse M.  Are there gay genes? sociobiology and homosexuality . J Homosex . 1981;;6:5-34.
61 +
Vogel F, Motulsky AG. Human Genetics . 2nd ed. Berlin, Federal Republic of Germany: Springer-Verlag; 1986;.

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