Birth order and ratio of brothers to sisters in Spanish transsexuals

Abstract

Three Western studies have shown that male-to-female (MF) homosexual transsexuals tend to be born later than their siblings and to come from sibships with more brothers than sisters. The objective of this study was to determine whether these variables would be replicated in 530 MF and female-to-male (FM) Spanish transsexuals according to sexual orientation. The results showed that MF homosexual transsexuals had significantly more older brothers than the non-homosexual MF group. Compared with the expected rates in the general population, birth order was significantly higher in both MF (Slater's Index = 0.59; Fraternal Index = 0.61; Sororal Index = 0.58) and FM homosexual transsexuals (Slater's Index = 0.65; Fraternal Index = 0.68; Sororal Index = 0.67), and sibling sex ratio was significantly higher than expected in homosexual MF (sex ratio = 0.55) but not in homosexual FM transsexuals. No significant differences were found in the non-homosexual subgroups. The replication of the later birth order and sibling sex-ratio effect in MF homosexual transsexuals corroborates previous findings in a variety of groups from different cultures and may suggest a common mechanism underlying the etiology of transsexualism.