Sex /Biology

[ginkgo]

I saw on the news that Elton John and his husband had a baby. So that made me wonder. If there are 2 gay people that are involved with each other and they have a baby, does that mean that the baby will be gay?

[SatvikBeri]

I don't think we have much data. There was a study that made big news a few months (maybe a year) ago but when I actually read the study, the differences between children of gay/straight parents were pretty small and insignificant.

There's so much politics involved that it would be very difficult to release a study that concludes that children of gay parents are more likely to be gay, though.

[MyEyeIsOpen]

No, not at all.

[russianrocket]

Originally Posted by ginkgo

I saw on the news that Elton John and his husband had a baby. So that made me wonder. If there are 2 gay people that are involved with each other and they have a baby, does that mean that the baby will be gay?

Are you seriously asking this? this is a new level lol even for you.

[russianrocket]

Originally Posted by SatvikBeri

I don't think we have much data. There was a study that made big news a few months (maybe a year) ago but when I actually read the study, the differences between children of gay/straight parents were pretty small and insignificant.

There's so much politics involved that it would be very difficult to release a study that concludes that children of gay parents are more likely to be gay, though.

Then you'd have to distinguish between which child "became" gay due to having gay parents or already had tendencies but came out of the closet because they were more comfortable about their sexuality because of having gay parents. Look at how many adults are coming out late in life. It's not like they weren't gay before and all of a sudden are. I'd say that a study would show children of gay parents are more likely to be gay, and would set their equal rights movement back decades.

More gays have been born/raised of straight parents, then gay.

[secrets0stolen]

Originally Posted by russianrocket

Are you seriously asking this? this is a new level lol even for you.

Lol, you took the words out of my mouth.

[votoshka]

Well I don't know statistics...but I do remember seeing on TV a show about gay parents, and in one family there was a lesbian couple and two daughters, and one of the daughters was gay (although was in denial about it for awhile!).

In the case of Elton John and his husband, it said the baby was born to a surrogate but it doesn't say anything about the father. However, if Elton or his husband WAS the father then MAYBE the child would have a higher chance of being gay, simply because of the genetic similarity.

I don't know about statistics, but I always figured there was most likely a genetic component in homosexuality. I don't believe that homosexuals are "made" or "choose" to be gay, I think they just are. What predisposes that, I don't know... but if genetics plays a role, a child with biologically homosexual parents would, I'd imagine, be more likely to be gay.

However, given that if the child were adopted, or wasn't related at all to the adoptive parents, I don't see how he or she would have a higher chance of being homosexual than someone else in the population at large.

[Fred Tracy]

I remember something back in one of my psychology classes saying that same sex parents weren't really any more likely to have gay kids. I'd tend to agree.

[Andrew Gubb]

Perhaps more likely to admit they are gay as there is a climate of acceptance of such in their households? Could be a factor to consider when looking at any studies.

[Andrew Gubb]

Oh, I remember a study which showed that the second child of a family is more likely to be gay, while the third child even more so, etc. Very strange and interesting. Perhaps it's nature's way of controlling overpopulation.

[Brutha]

Perhaps more likely to admit they are gay as there is a climate of acceptance of such in their households? Could be a factor to consider when looking at any studies.

Yes, when speaking about gays it's important to keep in mind that the categories aren't as well defined as you like them to be.
Roughly ten percent of self identified straights report to have had sexual relationships with the same sex that they enjoyed.

[1by1]

I'm pretty sure there was a woman providing an egg, rather than the DNA from two men being combined. Also, at this stage we know very little about the genetics of sexuality. So it's not possible to say if homosexuality is inherited or not.