Identical Twins and bisexuality

[Balance17771]

Is bisexuality more common among identical twins than non-identical twins? I remember reading an article that argued twins were more likely to "experiment" with members of the same sex due to a higher comfort level with other people. Is this true?

Are there any identical twins as part of the forum who can answer this?

[jo69guy]

I myself am not a twin, but know several. Out of all of them, only one of a couple of them has an openly gay lifestyle. I guess this is a limited sample, but it's the best I know. I firmly believe that being gay or bisexual is an individual thing, whether one is a twin or not. I also believe it is genetic at some level. :bipride:

[kcunderwhere]

Well, again, I don't know any glbt twins personally...but have seen documentaries of twins were one is transsexual and one is not, or one is bi/gay and one is not...also where both are trans/bi/gay or whatever. I'm not aware of any studies of twins and bisexuality...but it would kind of make sense, although anybody with a close sibling of the same sex could probably get the same effect.

I do believe in the genetic factor in becoming glbt... I am bi and trans...and my uncle is gay and was a transvestite (I think he is actually transsexual and think he would have transitioned if he didn't grow up in the 50's...) I have a very (very) conservative family, and I don't know of any glbt history beyond "my" generation, but I'm bi/trans, I have two cousins out of 3 in the same family that are gay/lesbian, another cousin (out of two) who is lesbian, two more out of 7 siblings that are gay/lesbian, another bi cousin out of 2 brothers...and several we secretly wonder about. This is all within my 1st and 2nd cousins, not "extended" family...and we don't have a particularly big family, either. I'm not sure what would be average, but it seems we are way above average in the glbt department :tong: .

[jo69guy]

To add to my response, the only relative I know of is one cousin. He is gay, though not openly. As you said, I know for certain, but most of the family just wonders.

[siraussietosser]

Always wished I have a twin brother, would loved going through my teens with him. :tong:

[Meinbruder]

Is bisexuality more common among identical twins than non-identical twins? I remember reading an article that argued twins were more likely to "experiment" with members of the same sex due to a higher comfort level with other people. Is this true?

Are there any identical twins as part of the forum who can answer this?


Identical? Fraternal? Even our Doctor wasn’t sure. My brother is very straight; I have been repressing my bi-sexuality for years and am just beginning to come to terms with it. I knew four sets of twins growing up but at the time sex wasn’t something normally discussed in my peer group. If I understand it correctly; the estimated ratio of one in ten people in the general population is GLBT, my own existence seems to be a part of that curve.

If by experiment, you mean “have sex”, I only know one person who doesn’t like to experiment.

:2cents:

[jakladd]

Interesting thread....

I'm an identical twin and now accepting of my bisexuality. I know my twin has had deep sexual issue relating to gender and sexuality but is not gay and seemingly happily married.

I'm sure it has an effect but then so did a dysfuntional family.

J

[DareMe]

Personnally, having a twin identical brother, I speak from experience he is not bi. Or at least he never spoke to me about it.

DM

[Driver 8]

I don't know of any studies about bisexuality in twins; there have been some studies of homosexuality in twins (http://www.worldpolicy.org/globalrights/sexorient/twins.html), though. Interesting that twins are very likely to share the same orientation ... but it isn't always the case. No idea whether these studies were lumping the bis in with the straights or with the gays, though.

I once knew a bisexual guy who had an identical twin whose sexual orientation he wasn't sure about. He frequently worried that one of his lovers would run into his twin brother, mistake them for each other, and let his secret out ... but for all of his dread of the situation, he wouldn't sit down and confide in his brother. :rolleyes:

[OralBradley]

Though I know of no twins in my family, I am bisexual and have a lesbian niece and a gay grandson. While it doesn't prove a "gay" gene, it is anecdotal evidence of nature as well as nurture in our sexual orientation.

[rayosytruenos]

I don't know of any studies about bisexuality in twins; there have been some studies of homosexuality in twins (http://www.worldpolicy.org/globalrights/sexorient/twins.html), though. Interesting that twins are very likely to share the same orientation ... but it isn't always the case.

[...]



Hi, Driver 8!

Thank you very much for the link... I'm always reading and looking for information that could prove if homosexuality/bisexuality/heterosexuality is genetic, apart from the changes that the environment can produce in the genes till even overturn their original orientation...

I find the study interesting even to prove that most studies are biased:

Bailey and Pillard (1991): occurrence of homosexuality among brothers

52% of identical (monozygotic) twins of homosexual men were likewise homosexual
22% of fraternal (dizygotic) twins were likewise homosexual
11% of adoptive brothers of homosexual men were likewise homosexual

J.M. Bailey and R.C. Pillard, “A genetic study of male sexual orientation,” Archives of General Psychiatry, vol. 48:1089-1096, December 1991.

Bailey and Pillard (1993): occurrence of homosexuality among sisters

48% of identical (monozygotic) twins of homosexual women were likewise homosexual (lesbian)
16% of fraternal (dizygotic) twins were likewise homosexual
6% of adoptive sisters of homosexual women were likewise homosexual

Bailey, J. M. and D. S. Benishay (1993), “Familial Aggregation of Female Sexual Orientation,” American Journal of Psychiatry 150(2): 272-277.

11% of adoptive brothers of homosexual men were likewise homosexual?
6% of adoptive sisters of homosexual women were likewise homosexual?

Why was not made a broader study with the percentage of adoptive brothers of heterosexual men that were homosexual and the percentage of adoptive sisters of heterosexual women that were homosexual?

The way those data are presented and the absence of a correlative percentage of the adoptive brothers/sisters of heterosexual men/women that turned homosexual, falls in the danger of making believe that homosexuality is catchy...

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!! :santa:

All the best, :bdaygrin:

ray :male:

[chuggles]

was involved with one half of identical twins....sadly my fantasy of having them both did not work out... the other half was str8... sob!

[ScifiBiJen]

[11% of adoptive brothers of homosexual men were likewise homosexual?
6% of adoptive sisters of homosexual women were likewise homosexual?

Why was not made a broader study with the percentage of adoptive brothers of heterosexual men that were homosexual and the percentage of adoptive sisters of heterosexual women that were homosexual?

The way those data are presented and the absence of a correlative percentage of the adoptive brothers/sisters of heterosexual men/women that turned homosexual, falls in the danger of making believe that homosexuality is catchy...

Well no Ray, they're not trying to make any statement like that by setting up the comparison as they have it.... you just have to look at the question the scientists would have been asking:

Are members of a set of twins (in which one of the twins is homosexual) more likely to have the same sexuality as each other than they are to less-related family members?
Because they're all in the same family, you're controlling for environmental factors (as best you can, anyway). But since the non-twin was adopted, they probably have very little genetic-relatedness.

It's a decent set-up.... and one that's clearly been used a lot.
You ask "why not study homosexual adopted siblings of twins?" Well, because in most cases, they might not have access to the full family history of the adopted kids and that's really really important. If both of the twins AND the adopted kid are all gay, then you might say AHA, it's all nuture-based. But what if a larger-than-average number of the adopted kid's family was GLBT too? Then you can't really make any remarkable conclusions, not in the same way.


Biology major, psychology minor. Can you tell? :tong:

[JrzGuy3]

11% of adoptive brothers of homosexual men were likewise homosexual?
6% of adoptive sisters of homosexual women were likewise homosexual?

Why was not made a broader study with the percentage of adoptive brothers of heterosexual men that were homosexual and the percentage of adoptive sisters of heterosexual women that were homosexual?

Also, I'd be tempted to say that this doesn't realy tell us much due to correlation. I would assume that this percentage of adopted children are going to turn out gay by chance. I bet if you did adoptive siblings of straight children, the results would be within each others' margin of error. In other words, adoptive siblings were the control group in this experiment, and the control group yielded basically the expected results.

I think that if they saw (say) 20% of adoptive siblings of homosexuals are also homosexual, then they'd be doing that study.

[violetpetal]

One of mi best friends is a twin. And she is happily married with 2 children, her twin sister has been in lesbian relationships most of her adult life.