Headline: Identical Twin Studies Prove Homosexuality Is Not Genetic

Hypothesis: The researchers agree to the statement that Homosexuality Is Not

Genetic.

Eight major studies of identical twins in Australia, the U.S., and Scandinavia during the
last two decades all arrive at the same conclusion: gays were not born that way.

“At best genetics is a minor factor,” says Dr. Neil Whitehead, PhD. Whitehead worked
for the New Zealand government as a scientific researcher for 24 years, then spent four
years working for the United Nations and International Atomic Energy Agency. Most
recently, he serves as a consultant to Japanese universities about the effects of
radiation exposure. His PhD is in biochemistry and statistics.
Identical twins have the same genes or DNA. They are nurtured in equal prenatal
conditions. If homosexuality is caused by genetics or prenatal conditions and one twin
is gay, the co-twin should also be gay.
“Because they have identical DNA, it ought to be 100%,” Dr. Whitehead notes. But the
studies reveal something else. “If an identical twin has same-sex attraction the chances
the co-twin has it are only about 11% for men and 14% for women.”

Because identical twins are always genetically identical, homosexuality cannot be

genetically dictated. “No-one is born gay,” he notes. “The predominant things that create
homosexuality in one identical twin and not in the other have to be post-birth factors.”

Dr. Whitehead believes same-sex attraction (SSA) is caused by “non-shared factors,”

things happening to one twin but not the other, or a personal response to an event by
one of the twins and not the other.

For example, one twin might have exposure to pornography or sexual abuse, but not
the other. One twin may interpret and respond to their family or classroom environment
differently than the other. “These individual and idiosyncratic responses to random
events and to common environmental factors predominate,” he says.

The first very large, reliable study of identical twins was conducted in Australia in 1991,
followed by a large U.S. study about 1997. Then Australia and the U.S. conducted more
twin studies in 2000, followed by several studies in Scandinavia, according to Dr.
Whitehead.

“Twin registers are the foundation of modern twin studies. They are now very large, and
exist in many countries. A gigantic European twin register with a projected 600,000
members is being organized, but one of the largest in use is in Australia, with more than
25,000 twins on the books.”
A significant twin study among adolescents shows an even weaker genetic correlation.
In 2002 Bearman and Brueckner studied tens of thousands of adolescent students in
the U.S. The same-sex attraction concordance between identical twins was only 7.7%
for males and 5.3% for females—lower than the 11% and 14% in the Australian study
by Bailey et al conducted in 2000.

In the identical twin studies, Dr. Whitehead has been struck by how fluid and
changeable sexual identity can be.

“Neutral academic surveys show there is substantial change. About half of the
homosexual/bisexual population (in a non-therapeutic environment) moves towards
heterosexuality over a lifetime. About 3% of the present heterosexual population once
firmly believed themselves to be homosexual or bisexual.”
“Sexual orientation is not set in concrete,” he notes.

Even more remarkable, most of the changes occur without counseling or therapy.
“These changes are not therapeutically induced, but happen ‘naturally’ in life, some very
quickly,” Dr. Whitehead observes. “Most changes in sexual orientation are towards
exclusive heterosexuality.”

Numbers of people who have changed towards exclusive heterosexuality are greater
than current numbers of bisexuals and homosexuals combined. In other words, ex-gays
outnumber actual gays.

The fluidity is even more pronounced among adolescents, as Bearman and Brueckner’s
study demonstrated. “They found that from 16 to 17-years-old, if a person had a
romantic attraction to the same sex, almost all had switched one year later.”

“The authors were pro-gay and they commented that the only stability was among the
heterosexuals, who stayed the same year after year. Adolescents are a special case—
generally changing their attractions from year to year.”
Still, many misconceptions persist in the popular culture. Namely, that homosexuality is
genetic – so hard-wired into one’s identity that it can’t be changed. “The academics who
work in the field are not happy with the portrayals by the media on the subject,” Dr.
Whitehead notes. “But they prefer to stick with their academic research and not get
involved in the activist side.”
The Twins Study

In 1991, J. Michael Bailey and Richard C. Pillard published a study that examined
identical and fraternal twin brothers and adopted brothers in an effort to establish a
genetic link to homosexuality. Fifty-two percent of the identical twins were reportedly
homosexual, while only 22 percent of fraternal twins fell into the same category. But
since identical twins have identical genetic material, the fact that nearly half of the
identical twins were heterosexual effectively refutes the idea that homosexuality has a
genetic basis.35 “This finding alone argues for the enormous importance of nongenetic
factors influencing homosexuality,” writes Dr. Jeffrey Satinover, “because … in order for
something to be genetically determined, as opposed to merely influenced, the genetic
heritability would need to
approach 100 percent.”36 Satinover, a psychiatrist, notes that “identical twins reared
together share more significant environmental influences than nonidentical twins reared
together,” and that narcissism, a key component of homosexuality, is more likely among
identical twins who “grow up with mirror images of themselves.”37 (Italics in original.)
In his analysis of the medical evidence purportedly supporting a biological cause of
homosexuality, Dr. Byne noted other twin studies:
Without knowing what developmental experiences contribute to sexual orientation …
the effects of common genes and common environments are difficult to disentangle.
Resolving this issue requires studies of twins raised apart. Other physicians have also
criticized the study for overvaluing the genetic influence. Dr. Byne’s arguments might
lead some activists to label him a “homophobe.” He is, in reality, quite the contrary.
Byne readily advocates societal acceptance of homosexuality and “gay
rights,” but nevertheless concludes, “Most of the links in the chain of reasoning from
biology to social policy [regarding homosexuality], do not hold up under scrutiny.”
Bailey conducted another study in 1999, published in the March 2000 issue of the
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, which actually showed less possible
genetic influence on homosexuality than the first twins study. He sent a questionnaire to
the entire Australian Twin Registry. Only three pairs of identical male twins were both
homosexual out of a total of 27 in which at least one was homosexual. Of the 16
fraternal male twins, none of the pairs was both homosexual. Bailey found similar
results for lesbians. In 1998, Dennis McFadden and Edward G. Pasanen published a
study that evaluated auditory systems. Specifically, the study considered differences in
echo-like waveforms emitted from an inner ear structure of people with normal hearing.
These waves are higher in women than in men, a factor often attributed to the level of a
person’s exposure to androgen (a male hormone) in his or her early development as a
fetus. In self-acknowledged lesbians, the waveforms ranged between those of men and
those of heterosexual women. The researchers concluded that this suggests that
female homosexuality could result from larger exposure to the male hormone androgen
in the womb (homosexual mendid not show the same variation).
The media eagerly jumped on this bandwagon. But even the researchers themselves
did not draw definitive conclusions. In the published study, they pointed out that
exposure to “intense sounds, certain drugs, and other manipulations” can lower the
level of these auditory waveforms. “Thus, it may be that something in the lifestyles of
homosexual and bisexual females leads them to be exposed to one or more agents that
have reduced the [waveforms], either temporarily or permanently.”
Moreover, even if the hearing differences were caused by an increased exposure to
androgen in the womb, scientists would still be far from proving that this exposure is a
cause of homosexuality—especially since the difference was not apparent in the male
homosexual
sample.

Conclusion: Based on the data we have gathered, the result of this study support
our hypothesis. Therefore, homosexuality is not clearly genetic.

SOURCES:

https://www.google.com/search?ie=UTF-8&source=android-
browser&q=identical+twins+studies+homosexuality+is+not+genetic
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/cross-cultural-evidence-for-the-genetics-of-
homosexuality/
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.pinknews.co.uk/2017/04/28/is-being-gay-or-
lesbian-genetic/amp/
https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.news.com.au/technology/science/human-
body/your-genes-determine-your-sexual-orientation-study-suggests/news-
story/b6398735310fcb4d6bb5d660e31fb91b
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/cross-cultural-evidence-for-the-genetics-of-
homosexuality/