Summary
The male-to-female sex ratio at birth of the first-born babies delivered in Japan to mothers aged 25 years or less was investigated in two groups: a hospital group and a questionnaire group. The sex ratio fluctuated according to their mother's month of birth. Between 1924 and 1928, the sex ratio of the offspring of the mothers born in March-May in both groups was significantly higher than that of the other mothers. We speculate about the relationship between the sex ratio at birth and the mother's month of birth.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Allan TM (1959) AB0 blood groups and sex ratio at birth. Br Med J 1: 553–554
Drew JS, London WT, Lustbader ED, Hesser JE, Blumberg BS (1978) Hepatitis B virus and the sex ratio of offspring. Science 201: 687–692
Drew J, London WT, Blumberg BS, Serjeantson S (1982) Hepatitis B virus and sex ratio on Kar Kar island. Hum Biol 54: 123–135
Erickson JD (1976) The secondary sex ratio in the United States 1969–71: Association with race, parental ages, birth order, paternal education and legitimacy. Ann Hum Genet 40: 205–212
Griffiths PD, Ronalds CJ, Heath RB (1980) A prospective study of influenza infections during pregnancy. J Epidemiol Community Health 34: 124–128
Guerrero R (1974) Association of the type and time of insemination within the menstrual cycle with the human sex ratio at birth. N Engl J Med 291: 1056–1059
Harlap S (1979) Gender of infants conceived on different days of the menstrual cycle. N Engl J Med 300: 1445–1449
Hesser JE, Economidou J, Blumberg BS (1975) Hepatitis B surface antigen (Australia antigen) in parents and sex ratio of offspring in a Greek population. Hum Biol 47: 415–425
Hesser JE, Blumberg BS, Drew JS (1976) Hepatitis B surface antigen, fertility and sex ratio: implications for health planning. Hum Biol 48: 73–81
Huntington E (1938) Season of birth; its relation to human abilities. Wiley & Sons, New York
James WH (1971) Coital rate, sex ratio and parental age. Lancet 1: 1294
James WH (1975) Sex ratio and the sex composition of the existing sibs. Ann Hum Genet 38: 371–378
James WH (1980) Gonadotrophin and the human secondary sex ratio. Br Med J 281: 711–712
Miura T, Shimura M (1980a) The relation between seasonal birth variation and the season of mothers' birth. Arch Gynecol 229: 115–122
Miura T, Shimura M (1980b) Epidemic seasonal infertility. A hypothesis for the cause of seasonal variation of births. Int J Biometeorol 24: 91–95
Moran PAP, Novitski E, Novitski C (1969) Paternal age and the secondary sex ratio in humans. Ann Hum Genet 32: 315–316
Novitski E, Kimball AW (1958) Birth order, parental ages, and sex of offspring. Am J Hum Genet 10: 268–275
Plank SJ, Buncher CR (1975) Maternal AB0 groups and sex ratio of live births. Hum Hered 25: 226–233
Renkonen KO, Mäkelä O, Lehtovaara R (1962) Factors affecting the human sex ratio. Nature 194: 308–309
Sugiura K (1928) Upon the sex of newly-born in Japan. (In Japanese) J Kinki Gynecol Soc 11: 1189–1217
Takahashi E (1952) Notes on Japanese birth statistics. Hum Biol 24: 44–52
Teitelbaum MS, Mantel M, Stark CR (1971) Limited dependence of the human sex ratio on birth order and parental ages. Am J Hum Genet 23: 271–280
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
Presented at the 9th International Congress of Biometeorology, September 1981, Osnabrück, Federal Republic of Germany
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Miura, T., Nonaka, K., Shimura, M. et al. A study of the sex ratio of first-born According to the mother's month of birth. Arch. Gynecol. 233, 263–266 (1983). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02133800
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02133800