ArticleEuropean journal of human genetics : EJHG2017
Sexual dimorphism in the genetic influence on human childlessness.
Article in European journal of human genetics : EJHG, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
5 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 12 citations in OpenAlex.
- A scientometric review of genome-wide association studies.Communications biology · 2019Pooled it
- Reproductive and cognitive phenotypes in carriers of recessive pathogenic variants.Nature human behaviour · 2025Article
- Article
- Using Polygenic Scores in Social Science Research: Unraveling Childlessness.Frontiers in sociology · 2019Article
- Hidden heritability due to heterogeneity across seven populations.Nature human behaviour · 2017Article
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 4 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Previous research has found a genetic component of human reproduction and childlessness. Others have argued that the heritability of reproduction is counterintuitive due to a frequent misinterpretation that additive genetic variance in reproductive fitness should be close to zero. Yet it is plausible that different genetic loci operate in male and female fertility in the form of sexual dimorphism and that these genes are passed on to the next generation. This study examines the extent to which genetic factors influence childlessness and provides an empirical test of genetic sexual dimorphism. Data from the Swedish Twin Register (N=9942) is used to estimate a classical twin model, a genomic-relatedness-matrix restricted maximum likelihood (GREML) model on twins and estimates polygenic scores of age at first birth on childlessness. Results show that the variation in individual differences in childlessness is explained by genetic differences for 47% in the twin model and 59% for women and 56% for men using the GREML model. Using a polygenic score (PGS) of age at first birth (AFB), the odds of remaining childless are around 1.25 higher for individuals with 1 SD higher score on the AFB PGS, but only for women. We find that different sets of genes influence childlessness in men and in women. These findings provide insight into why people remain childless and give evidence of genetic sexual dimorphism.
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Registered trials
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