There's an old hypothesis that says first-conceived children were hereditarily predispositioned to seem to be their dad. It was accepted this was so the dad acknowledged the youngster was his and would give and mind to them. There's additionally another hypothesis that says it was so he didn't eat the child…
These speculations clearly date way, way back, some time before paternity tests existed (or human flesh consumption was disliked).
But even today, all new parents can’t help but look at their baby and wonder, who does it look like? It’s often one of the first things people will comment on when they meet a little one for the first time.
But is there actually any truth to the theory at all?
A recent report from the College of California tried to demonstrate the hypothesis by coordinating photographs of 1-year-old youngsters with photos of their dad. The review requested that 122 members match photographs of kids at 1-year, 10-years and 20-years with photographs of both their moms and fathers. In babies, just shy of half speculated accurately for the dads, rather than around 37% for the moms. The achievement rates diminished fundamentally in 10-year-olds and rose somewhat again in 20-year-olds.
A comparative report in 2004 with a much bigger example size found that, as a matter of fact, most babies look like the two guardians similarly.
In concluding the study, co-author and psychologist at the University of Padova in Italy Paola Bressan noted that to the best of her knowledge, “no study has either replicated or supported” the findings from the 1995 study that stated babies resemble their fathers.
But even though the science isn’t there to back up the theory, why do so many of us say it rings true, that firstborns do tend to look more like their father?
Though one individual could view a child as a "carbon copy" of either their mom or father, someone else probably won't see any likeness whatsoever. This implies you've truly got to feel for those children and moms back in the stone age man days when that is all they needed to go off.
Nowadays we realize that kids share half of their parent's DNA, and there are prevailing qualities and passive qualities – which leaves rather a great deal of space for variety. That's right, the cave dwellers most certainly didn't get this update by the same token.
Add to this the fact that babies grow and change so much in the first year and every year after that. Some will start out with the spitting image of one parent, but as they grow they end up looking much more like the other.
It also begs the question, is a father who is excited about having a child more likely to see himself in his baby than one who is nervous/anxious/not wanting it? Or will a striking resemblance shock even the most detached father into bonding with his child?
Whilst the jury is still out on proving this theory as a hard fact, based on your family does this ring true for you? Did your first-born look more like you or your partner at birth? And what about as they’ve grown up has it changed? Checkout Kiindred for more such articles.
Checkout more articles :
https://kiindred.co/baby/do-first-born-babies-actually-look-more-like-their-fathers/
https://kiindred.co/pregnancy/baby-showers-and-reveals/so-youre-having-a-boy-heres-what-youre-in-for-2/
