PRENATAL ESTROGENS AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF HOMOSEXUAL ORIENTATION

In psychobiological research on sexual orientation, the prenatal hormo ne theory has a central position. This article examines the hypothesis that prenatal estrogens contribute to the development of human sexual orientation. Several groups of women with a history of prenatal expos ure to diethylstilbestrol (DES), a nonsteroidal synthetic estrogen, we re compared with several samples of control women in the context of a comprehensive study of the psychiatric and psychologic effects of pren atal DES. Various aspects of sexual orientation were assessed by syste matic interview. Consistently across samples, more DES-exposed women t han controls were rated as bisexual or homosexual (scores 2-6 on Kinse y-format scales ranging from 0 to 6). The data are compatible with the hypothesis that prenatal estrogens may play a role in the development of human sexual orientation.