The Coupon Collection Behavior in Human Reproduction.

ABSTRACT: There is evidence in humans for genetic influences on the probability (P_boy) that a birth yields a boy instead of a girl [1-6], suggesting a potential variation of P_boy among families. To quantify this variation, we analyze the survey data from over 300,000 UK Biobank participants primarily born between 1940 and 1970 [7]. Surprisingly, the proportion of male children in a family, or sex ratio (SR), has a significantly smaller among-family variation than expected under a uniform P_boy. We propose that this phenomenon results from reproductive behaviors reflecting a preference for having children of both sexes, much like the coupon collector's problem in probability theory where collecting a complete set of distinct coupons is considered a win. We find that th

SUBMITTER: Long E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7541714 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature