Infertility and same‐sex attraction in women

Abstract

A polygyny hypothesis of female sexual fluidity proposes that women may have been evolutionarily selected to be sexually fluid, in order to have occasional sex with their cowives in polygynous marriage to reduce tension and conflict inherent in such marriage, while at the same time reproducing children with their husbands. Among others, the hypothesis predicts that women who are biologically (but not surgically) infertile would experience greater same-sex attraction. Biological infertility stems from natural, evolutionarily familiar causes such as menopause, whereas surgical infertility stems from artificial, evolutionarily novel causes such as tubal ligation or hysterectomy. Consistent with the prediction, the analyses of the National Survey of Family Growth data showed that biological infertility, but not surgical infertility, was significantly associated with same-sex self-identified labels, behavior and sexual attraction in women. Biological infertility nearly doubled the odds of women having engaged in same-sex behavior and the number of same-sex partners in the last 12 months and nearly tripled the number of same-sex partners in life. In sharp contrast, biological infertility was not associated (and surgical infertility was significantly negatively associated) with same-sex attraction in men.