Substance Abuse During Pregnancy May Change Sexual Orientation of Fetus, Claims Neuroscientist

To have a healthier baby, pregnant women are advised to quit alcohol and tobacco as they impair the physical and mental growth of the fetus. A recent claim by a neuroscientist states that drinking and smoking affects the sexuality of a child.

Dr. Dick Swaab, a famous Dutch neurologist, has made this controversial claim in his latest book, 'We Are Our Brains'. He says the lifestyle of a mother has an impact on the sexual orientation and IQ development of an infant. More specifically drinking, drug usage or smoking during pregnancy can adversely affect the growth of a baby.

Intake of synthetic hormones and smoking can make a girl child  develop lesbian orientation while drinking and drug usage restricts IQ growth, according to Swaab.

"Pre-birth exposure to both nicotine and amphetamines increases the chance of lesbian daughters," said Swaab, reports metro. 'Pregnant women suffering from stress are also more likely to have homosexual children of both genders because their raised level of the stress hormone cortisol affects the production of foetal sex hormones.'

In fact, if the fetus has older male siblings, there are  greater possibilities of the child turning gay. With time, the mother's immune system gets more responsive to the male hormones with each son born, reports the Dailymail. However, the study emphasizes that genetics is the prime determining factor in the development of characteristics in a child but lifestyle also plays some role in this.

This is not the first time that alcohol has been linked to pregnancy problems. An earlier study has shown that excessive alcohol consumption in pregnant women leads to fetal alcohol syndrome with alcohol slipping into the bloodstream of the fetus through the less developed intestinal walls.

A recent CDC report states only 17 percent of pregnant women get counseled by their doctors on the ill effects of alcohol on the fetus, reports USA Today. Such counseling is immensely important and can help people cope up better with their drinking problems.