What You Inherited From Your Mom Vs What You Inherited From Your Dad
How many times have you come across someone who looks like a spitting image of their parent? Not many. But take a look at celeb kids, and you will know that kids looking like an exact copy of their parents isn’t such a rarity. Whether it is Reese Witherspoon’s daughter, Angelina Jolie’s son or even Saif Ali Khan’s son, kids can look like an exact copy of their parent. But far too many times, we tend to be a blend of both our mom and dad. Although in some cases, we take to one parent more than the other. Whether you believe you got your mum’s shy disposition or your dad’s IQ, there are certain things you inherit from your mum and your dad.
Physical Fitness
Women are the ones who are usually told to take care of their diet and health during pregnancy. Why? Because a healthy mom-to-be is more likely to deliver a healthy baby. But turns out that dads have an equally important role to play when it comes to the baby’s health. And for dads, it starts way earlier than pregnancy – during the time of conception. Father’s body weight, diet, and body composition at the time of conception can affect his offspring’s health in the future. It makes you wonder if it’s time for your partner to start hitting the gym (1).
Dimples
Don’t we all love to see those cute dimples when a kid smiles! Did you know that dimples are actually caused by genetic defects due to shortened facial muscles? If you have dimples, then it’s likely that your child will inherit this trait from you. If both the parents have dimples, then the chances of the child inheriting the genes are 50-100%. You can inherit this gene from any one of the parents if they carry the respective genes in them (2).
The Sex Of The Baby
Baby’s gender is completely dependant on the gene inherited from the dad. A mother will always carry the X chromosome. Whereas a father can carry either an X or a Y chromosome. So if the baby receives an X chromosome from the father, it will be a girl. And if it is a Y chromosome, it will be a boy. But if your man has more brothers in his family, you are likely to have more sons and if he has more sisters you are likely to have more daughters. Only a small ratio of men have an equal number of X and Y chromosome in their genes (3).
Intelligence
The genes which determine the intelligence of a child is present in the X-chromosome. And research states that it’s the intelligence gene from the mother that the child always inherits. And even if the father passes the X-chromosome to the child, since they are conditional genes, they will get deactivated. However, there is contradictory research which states that it may not be entirely true. The intelligence of a child depends on various factors and it even depends upon the environment and the culture the child is brought up in. Hence it is hard to measure it in a unidimensional way (4).
Inclination To Hemophilia
Hemophilia is a condition that slows down the process of blood clotting. So, a person with this disorder will experience continuous bleeding and oozing following an injury or surgery. It is a condition that is inherited from the X-chromosome. So, in males, one copy of the gene which is inherited from the mother is enough to cause this condition. Whereas in females, both the mother and the father have to pass the gene for the mutation to occur. Hence it is highly unlikely for women to have this disease (5).
Which one of you did your baby take after? Are there any special traits or features that you or your baby inherited? Are there any fascinating details that you would like to share with us?
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