Fatherhood can reduce testosterone levels
Studies show that men who father children are more likely to see a decline in testosterone levels, in the years following the birth of the child.
Testosterone is the hormone found within males, which is responsible for body shape, loss of hair and the male sex drive. Studies carried out on 624 males from the Philippines, using the testing of blood, showed that levels of testosterone seemed to decline within a 5 year period, in those males who had children.
The study also looked at men who were responsible for up to 3 hours of childcare per day, and found that they produced even less testosterone. Anthropologist Lee Gettler spoke about this trend, saying that men who had high levels of testosterone were more likely to become fathers in the first place. As a consequence of having children though, these levels were likely to drop. There was no information on whether this level dropped more, when the male fathered more than one child.
Andrologist Allan Pacey suggested that these lower levels may be down to the fact that men with children are more likely to be family oriented and less likely to be unfaithful, so it may just be the case of evolution doing what it should. Although, he did stress that tests on behaviour would need to be undertaken before this could be confirmed for definite, as this would more than likely not be the case for all males.
View the original Guardian article.
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