The greatest family responsibility is the birth of a child. Many lovers are looking forward to this event, and during pregnancy, more and more questions arise regarding the name, gender and appearance of the unborn baby.
A little intrigue
From the very first days, as soon as a young couple finds out that she will become the parents of a small miracle, fortune-telling begins: a boy or a girl, who will the child look like, dark or fair, mother's or father's eyes?
Many believe that if you surround a pregnant woman with beautiful works of art and often turn on classical music, then the future child will be born a charming creature with creative potential and an excellent ear for music.
In India, girls who are preparing for conception imagine Krishna at the moment of intimacy in order to endow their child with the external features and wisdom of a deity. What can we say about the many techniques, special positions and diets designed to "help" mom and dad give birth to a child of the desired sex?
Genetics smile condescendingly on this occasion, because for the scientific community a similar "philosophy" has no evidence, and therefore cannot be taken seriously. How does the formation of external features and character of an unborn child actually take place?baby? Is it possible to reliably predict what a child will look like? Let's figure it out together.
Prince or princess?
Her Majesty Chromosome rules the show in this matter. Gametes in men carry either the X chromosome or the Y chromosome. The number of both is equal. The sex of the unborn child depends on what type of chromosome will fertilize the egg. The X-chromosome came to the finish line first - expect a girl, the Y-chromosome won the baton - an heir will be born.
The birth rate of boys is slightly higher than the fair sex. Assumptions of scientists boil down to the fact that genetically male children are more susceptible to diseases. The body of boys is less resistant to all kinds of viruses, including diseases that are transmitted from generation to generation. Consequently, the mortality rate among the representatives of the stronger sex is slightly higher than among girls. In this way, wise nature tries to balance the number of men and women.
Who will the unborn baby look like?
It is widely believed that boys are born looking like their mother, and girls outwardly copy their father. The statement can be considered quite reasonable, but only half. The mystery lies in the X chromosome, which is many times richer than the other. And since boys receive only one such chromosome from their mother, the likelihood that the son will inherit the external features of his mother is very high. When a girl is conceived, the embryo receives an X chromosome from each parent. Therefore, the stakes are equal here: the future princess can inherit both her mother andand daddy's looks.
Strong and Weak
Even at school we were taught that there are two types of genes: dominant - "strong" genes, and recessive - "weak" genes. If the choice arises which of them will pass on hereditary information to the unborn child, then in the vast majority of cases the dominant one wins. Given this theory, we can guess who the child looks like from the photo of the parents.
Blue or brown
The darker the color of the eyes, the stronger the gene carrying this information. If mom has light eyes, and dad has brown eyes, then the percentage of the appearance of a baby with the eyes of his father is significantly higher. If both parents have dark eyes, then the probability that a child with sky-colored eyes will be born is very small and is approximately 6%. And yet the possibility exists. And even if mom and dad have blue eyes, it also happens that a baby with brown eyes is born.
Why does it happen that the child is not like the parents? Scientists agree that not one gene, but a group that carries different information can be responsible for a certain external sign of a new person. And when such a joint work gives an unpredictable result, you need to take such a surprise calmly, and not run to the nearest clinic to take DNA tests.
Dominant features of appearance
Of course, the color of the eyes of the future child is not the only question that interests parents. Who looks more like a child, mom or dad,determine the dominant genes, the list of which is very extensive. One thing is clear: if a family has a distinctive external feature (protruding ears, a hooked nose, a dimple on the chin, a birthmark or the left-handedness of one of the parents), most likely the baby will easily inherit it.
Hair color and structure
Recessive genes carry information about blond hair, dominant genes about dark hair. Whom the child will look like, if the mother is the owner of bright, almost white curls, and the father is a burning brunette, it is not difficult to guess. The baby will inherit the color of his father's hair. A blonde couple rarely gives birth to a child with dark hair. Curly or curly hair is a sign of a dominant gene. Under equal conditions, he wins, and the child inherits the curls of one of the parents.
Giant or Shorty
In the issue of growth, not everything is so simple, because this indicator is influenced not only by heredity, but also by many other factors: a balanced diet of the mother during pregnancy, the environment and the ecological situation in which the child grew up, illness, sports.
When all these factors are combined, the child reaches the average between mom and dad. The information of small stature is carried by the dominant gene. The situation can be corrected by giving a short boy to basketball. This sport will give an extra boost to growth and add a couple of centimeters to your heir.
Character traits
The character of the baby is formed not only genetically. This includes the behavior of others, and upbringing, and other social relations. A child can inherit the temperament of one of the parents or collect their own set of traits from each. Already in the first months you can see whose character dominates the little man: whether he is active and inquisitive, or calm and living in his inner world.
Intellectual abilities, ear for music and a craving for drawing are also inherited by the child from their parents. Here is the phrase: “She has perfect hearing, like me!” - would sound quite appropriate. In addition to facial features, the child inherits facial expressions from their parents. It has been proven that children do not just copy the facial expressions of their parents, mimic similarity is the result of genetic inheritance. After all, even blind children are able to outwardly repeat their parents.
Telegony
The term came to us from the Greek language and in translation means "born far away". In simple terms, this is a theory stating that when intimacy with a female, the male leaves his genetic information in the body of the female, even if the merger did not bring children from him. Subsequently, the offspring from another male receives a set of both external and internal features of each male who has been in the female's womb.
It all started in the 19th century when the practicing zoologist Count Morton decided as an experiment to cross a thoroughbred mare with an African zebra stallion. The experiments were not successful. The mare did not produce offspring. Everything would be fine, but after a few years thisbut a mare gives birth (already from a male of her own species) to a foal with obvious signs of a zebra! Naturally, scientific minds wondered if the effect of telegonia is taking place among people?
The followers of this theory claim that cases when the first child looks like the first man of a woman are not so rare. However, this has not yet been experimentally proven. Experiments on crossing various species of animals and birds did not bring evidence.
How can genetic information be stored in a woman's body for several months or even years? How can a child look like the first man if ten, fifteen, or even twenty years have passed since intimacy? The sperm can live in the vagina for several hours, in the uterus for no more than three days. Then he dies, as well as all the genetic information that he carried in himself.
It is not possible to scientifically substantiate the theory of telegony with all the desire. But followers of the moral purity of the female population clung to her, defending the moral side of the family aspect and the virginity of the future wife. Supporters of the “revival of a clean family” assure that all the sexual partners of a girl who she had before marriage leave their mark on children born in a legal marriage. By this phenomenon, they explain the high incidence of the current generation, because a woman “accumulates” in herself all the errors of the genetic heredity of each partner. People of science are skeptical about such an unconfirmed phenomenon as telegony.
Psychologists confirm that parents often want their child to have similar external features with them. So it is easier for them to accept and be proud of their child. But does it really matter who the child will look like? Isn't it more important to see your baby he althy and happy, even if no hairstyle can hide his protruding ears?
