CGPH FACULTY: Ralph Catalano
DATE OF PUBLICATION: April 2015
REGION: Europe
REFERENCE: Karasek D, Goodman J, Gemmill A, Falconi A, Hartig T, Magganas A, Catalano R. Twins Less Frequent Than Expected Among Male Births in Risk Averse Populations. Twin Res Hum Genet. 2015 Apr 28:1-7
SUMMARY/ABSTRACT: Male twin gestations exhibit higher incidence of fetal morbidity and mortality than singleton gestations. From an evolutionary perspective, the relatively high rates of infant and child mortality among male twins born into threatening environments reduce the fitness of these gestations, making them more vulnerable to fetal loss. Women do not perceive choosing to spontaneously abort gestations although the outcome may result from estimates, made without awareness, of the risks of continuing a pregnancy. Here, we examine whether the non-conscious decisional biology of gestation can be linked to conscious risk aversion. We test this speculation by measuring the association between household surveys in Sweden that gauge financial risk aversion in the population and the frequency of twins among live male births. This work implies that shocks that affect population risk aversion carry implications for fetal loss in vulnerable twin pregnancies.
ACCESS: Link to Pubmed