Effect of conception time and maternal age upon fetal sex ratio in Cukurova population, Adana-Turkey

Abstract

Purpose: This investigation was conducted to determine whether the month of conception, parental age, and environmental factors such as seasonal variation, consumption of alcohol and cigarette by parents, play a role on sex ratio at pregnancy in Cukurova region and surrounding area population (Turkey). Materials and Methods: We have analyzed tha data of patients who were referred to our prenatal diagnosis laboratory for amniosynthesis with the purpose of karyotyping between the years of 2005-2007. We used Pearsen Chi-square, Fisher’s exact and T-tests for statistical analyses. Result(s): No association was established between the primary sex ratio and time for pregnancy. Differences in primary sex ratio among the months were not statistically significant, but the difference for the month of September was noted. For september, we have found statistically significant distortion of sex ratio toward male, (males:females ratio=1.8). Conclusion: In conclusion, our speculation is that the climate change in September may affect the primary sex ratio under the summer/autumn photoperiod. [Cukurova Med J 2014; 39(2.000): 248-255]

Keywords

• Karyotyping
• month of conception
• primary sex ratio
• prenatal diagnosis
• statistical analyses