A British mathematician has discovered a surprising 'trick' that could make pregnant women more likely to give birth to a boy.
Professor Hannah Fry shared an interesting theory on Instagram, known as the "returned soldier effect," which shows an increase in male births after the end of the world wars.
Referring to a chart on the ratio of male to female births in England and Wales, she explained:
“There are a few clear peaks – one in 1919, just after the end of World War I, and another in 1945, after World War II.”
The academic and television presenter said that this phenomenon is linked to a combination of social factors and a biological trait that increases the chances of having a boy if conception occurs early during a woman's "fertility window."
According to Professor Fry, after wars, people have more sexual relations, as soldiers return to their wives or girlfriends, which significantly increases the chance of getting pregnant.
This intensification of sexual intercourse causes women to become pregnant earlier in their menstrual cycle, and according to Professor Fry, this could lead to an increase in the birth of boys.
“A woman’s chances of conceiving a boy or a girl vary very slightly depending on when she conceives during her cycle,” she said. “If conception occurs a little earlier, the chances of having a boy increase slightly.”
Experts think this is due to hormonal changes or acidity levels in a woman's body during the menstrual cycle, which can affect the cervical environment.
These changes create more favorable conditions for sperm carrying the Y chromosome (which determines male sex) to reach the egg first.
Other studies suggest that this imbalance between the births of boys and girls may come from a slightly higher mortality of female embryos compared to male ones.
However, Professor Fry warned that those who want to use this method to influence the gender of their baby do not have a sure guarantee.
“At the individual level, the increase in the chance of having a boy is very small,” she explained – GazetaExpress reports. “But when we analyze the data at the population level, this pattern becomes more apparent.”
The returned soldier effect, despite its name, is not always associated with wars, Professor Fry emphasized.
Another increase in male births was recorded in Britain in 1973, during an energy crisis, when many people worked only a few days a week.
"I think we now know what most Britons were doing during their three-day working week," Professor Fry said humorously.
Although the "returned soldier effect" is a real phenomenon, it is worth noting that even in normal times, slightly more boys are born than girls.
Generally, in a population, about 104 boys are born for every 100 girls.
This ratio does not affect the population balance, as statistics show that slightly more boys die before reaching adulthood, mainly from accidents or developmental problems. /GazetaExpress/
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