queerditch Posted June 29, 2018 Share Posted June 29, 2018 I've seen several aces on here say that their sibling, parent, etc. is also asexual. I haven't had the chance to discretely ask my parents how they feel about asexuality as they have been out of town all week, so I'm not sure if they are both hetero or if one is ace. Anyway, do y'all think that Asexuality could be genetic? Link to post Share on other sites
ôÿē èîęēú ïė ēôēįîûôø Posted June 29, 2018 Share Posted June 29, 2018 I don't think so. Both of my parents are straight, to my knowledge, and I am still ace/aro. Link to post Share on other sites
Skycaptain Posted June 29, 2018 Share Posted June 29, 2018 I doubt that genetics would be a universal orientation creator. However it's more than plausible that a low level of sexual desire/attraction could be genetic. Link to post Share on other sites
arowace Posted June 29, 2018 Share Posted June 29, 2018 It could be but perhaps its a recessive gene or a result of several genotypes interacting. So your parents or grandparents don't necessarily have to be ace for it to be genetic. Also it may be the result of both the environment and genes interacting. There's a lot of possibilities... And asexuality hasn't been studied that extensively to my knowledge so I doubt anyone really knows the truth. Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted June 29, 2018 Share Posted June 29, 2018 Good question. Hmm, maybe? 🤔 As far as I know, I'm the only LGBT+ person in my family. Seems odd to me, but whatever... Unfortunately, I'm estranged from most of my extended family, so I can't exactly ask them. Both of my parents are straight, as is my older brother. I have an older, adopted sister (we're actually cousins), but I'm also estranged from her, so I'm not sure about her. I feel all alone in my family... 😢 Link to post Share on other sites
Homer Posted June 29, 2018 Share Posted June 29, 2018 I think it is, like most of your traits are - albeit not in the sense of asexuality being "passed on". Link to post Share on other sites
addewyn Posted June 29, 2018 Share Posted June 29, 2018 I wouldn't be surprised if it was in part genetic. I guess it's a bit how like it's proven that if you're exposed to more testosterone in utero you're statistically more likely to be gay. I'm pretty sure my mum is somewhere on the asexual spectrum or at least demi. It's made our conversations really interesting because I think she expects me to be like her and just sort of ... do it because it's expected of you if that makes sense? We don't have super in-depth conversations about it because that would be a bit odd for us but I really think it is that thing of people just sort of assuming that attraction works for everyone else as it does for themselves and never questioning it, haha. Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Jetsun Milarepa Posted June 29, 2018 Share Posted June 29, 2018 Isn't everything genetic?😄Seriously though, they're doing studies on homosexuality right now , to see if there's a genetic component, using twins. Maybe it's just a matter of time until it becomes clear just how much chemistry plays a part. I saw a book recently, by a sociologist, that purports to explain how sex/sexuality is just a social construct. Needless to say , I think that's just another extreme view. Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Jetsun Milarepa Posted June 29, 2018 Share Posted June 29, 2018 Hamer, D. H., & Copeland, P. (1994). The science of desire: The search for the gay gene and the biology of behavior. New York, NY, US: Simon & Schuster. My daughter's ex is a geneticist, working in St Andrews University and his studies indicate a connection with a particular gene sequence in ....fruit flies!😆 Link to post Share on other sites
knittinghistorian Posted June 29, 2018 Share Posted June 29, 2018 I kind of wonder. Back several generations on my dad's side, I had two several-times-great aunts, sisters, who were both old maids all their lives. This was in the early 20th century, so pretty unusual. They were fashion and fabric designers, and designed an important dress for Eleanor Roosevelt; they were the kind of people who would be guest judges on "Project Runway" these days. I've long wondered if they might have been asexual. My grandmother says that she was always more interested in the friendship side of her relationship with my grandfather, rather than the sex side. Who knows? It seems anecdotally plausible to me, anyway. Link to post Share on other sites
Karoushi Posted July 1, 2018 Share Posted July 1, 2018 err it's weird when it comes to orientation. Maybe?? but I highly doubt scientists will pinpoint specific genes that influences ones sexuality. plus asexuality is a newer concept so it's kinda hard to trace back to older generations, especially being they they came from a less lgbt friendly time. But as far as I know, I'm the only LGBT person in my family so meh. Link to post Share on other sites
LoyalandTrue Posted July 2, 2018 Share Posted July 2, 2018 As others have said, its hard to say for sure, but very possibly there's a genetic component. The other reason you probably see a lot of people with siblings/parents that are also asexual is that, when one person in the family researches and discovers their own asexuality, and chooses to come out to the rest of the family, it also opens up that information to them as well. Thus, it may be less that there's a genetic component, and more (or also) that their relatives know about and discovered their own asexuality, BECAUSE someone else in the family discovered their own. That's not to say that there's not a genetic component, but it also opens the question of whether asexuality is a lot more common than its currently believed! Link to post Share on other sites
queerditch Posted July 2, 2018 Author Share Posted July 2, 2018 Thanks for all the responses, everyone! It has been very interesting reading what everyone thinks and everyone has made some very good points. Link to post Share on other sites
lapat67 Posted July 2, 2018 Share Posted July 2, 2018 I think there would have to be a relatively high mutation rate, creating new asexuals, for that to work, because asexuals will have a smaller chance of having children. Over geological timescales, the difference in the number of children wouldn't have to be large for asexuals to die out. Or the genetic component would have to be a weak predisposition, and/or be associated with other survival benefits. Link to post Share on other sites
Artistofnoname Posted July 15, 2018 Share Posted July 15, 2018 I say it's just random Link to post Share on other sites
Skycaptain Posted July 15, 2018 Share Posted July 15, 2018 I'm not convinced that it's entirely random. If we discount those people who have a genetic anomaly where you can expect a lack of sexual desire, infertility et al to prevent the perpetuation of damaged genes, there seems to be anecdotal evidence of a heriditary pattern of diminished sexual desire in some bloodlines. This is not to say that a spontaneous asexual person won't happen, indeed looking at our membership there are many asexuals with no ancestral or genetic markers as to why they should be asexual Link to post Share on other sites
Maristine Posted July 18, 2018 Share Posted July 18, 2018 So I have 4 grandparents, 17 aunts/uncles, 39 cousins, my parents and 2 siblings, and I’m the only ace, so if it’s genetic it must be really really recessive. Link to post Share on other sites
starweb Posted July 18, 2018 Share Posted July 18, 2018 For whatever it's worth, apparently, my biological father was straight and promiscuous and that whole side of the family was full of serial adulterers. I never knew him. Never knew anything about any of this until after I was an adult. I"m the result of an affair. I've also had MANY relatives who never married but as to why they didn't, I have no idea. Link to post Share on other sites
Joe Guzman Posted July 23, 2018 Share Posted July 23, 2018 I can't remember exactly where I read this, but it was a reputable source, not just some dingbat ravings: it's looking like homosexuality is genetically based. So why not asexuality? True, it has no procreative advantage, but some strong arguments could be made for evolutionary advantage, like fewer resources needed to sustain a given family unit if some don't have kids, less domestic responsibility means risks associated with exploration won't leave anyone orphaned, more time spent persuing non-domestic projects could benefit everyone . . . those just off the top of my head. It could also be a doube-recessive trait that would express infrequently so that the DNA would have a better chance of continuing. OK, just went and looked it up (wish I had before I started replying . . . oh, well) and found articles in Scientific American and American Journal of Sociology. Mind you, the findings are not entirely conclusive, but it seems that genetics play at least a part of being homosexual so, again, why not asexuality. If you decide to check yourself, be advised there's a lot of misinformation on the topic, much of it religious-based. Anyone read anything else? Link to post Share on other sites
Hayis4horses Posted July 23, 2018 Share Posted July 23, 2018 As far as I know, my papa's uncle might possibly have been demisexual. Other than that my grama on my mama's side is lesbian, and my mama's uncle was gay, but that still isn't ace. Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted July 24, 2018 Share Posted July 24, 2018 As far as I know, I'm the only LGBTQ+ person in my family so maybe not Link to post Share on other sites
allieace Posted July 24, 2018 Share Posted July 24, 2018 I'm on the ace spectrum and I'm pretty sure my brother as well as my mom is too. Not sure if it's genetic, environmental, or a combination of the two (probably a combination). I thought there was something wrong with me for not desiring a sexual relationship like many of my friends, but felt better once my brother expressed the same worries to me because I knew I wasn't alone. This made me reflect on my childhood, trying to find something that may have caused this to happen to both of us, and came to the conclusion that nothing could explain it other than the fact that my mom told me that she was never really interested in sex her whole life. I sort of accepted that it was all somehow connected and I suppose it helped me accept my own (a)sexuality. Link to post Share on other sites
Podsnap Posted July 24, 2018 Share Posted July 24, 2018 I've noticed that remaining single and childless seems to run in sibling groups. One of my brothers is in his forties and like me, has never partnered. Link to post Share on other sites
lapat67 Posted July 24, 2018 Share Posted July 24, 2018 I'm not being skeptical, just cautious: I've looked at Poisson statistics, the statistics of coincidence, a bit, and coincidence is much more common than our intuition suggests. So you need a large sample size and controls if you want to estimate how likely it is that these incidences are due to chance. Link to post Share on other sites
AshenPhoenix Posted July 27, 2018 Share Posted July 27, 2018 There's been a lot of promising research that most sexuality-related things are either genetic or epigenetic. Especially re: homosexuality (since it's had the most research done on it). It's been long held for a while that sexuality in general is either genetic or determined at an incredibly early age and unable to be changed from there on out (namely the fact that pretty much every sexual orientation humans exhibit, including asexuality, is also present in multiple animal species, so many argue that environmental or psychological factors that humans exhibit are null and void). I saw a super interesting TED talk (I'll have to run and find the link) once that talked about how humans who have a stressful pregnancy are more likely to have homosexual children, or people who've already have more than 4 children have an exponential chance of producing a homosexual one. So the "evolutionary advantage" theory that a lot of people were shooting down a few years ago re: differing sexualities is actually starting to make more and more sense as we consider epigenetics a factor. BUT. All my rambling aside, yes, there's a large chance that asexuality, as it is becoming apparent most sexualities are, is either genetic or hereditary in some form. With a note being that if something is genetic it doesn't always have to show anyway, variation is the master of evolution after all. But may be more common in some families than others. Or at least, some families and genetic factors may lead to greater likelihood of an ace child than others. Or, it could simply be that it's present in all human beings, and some are more likely than others... Or or, it could be that it's present in all but epigenetic factors lead to one over the other. Who knows! All that's likely true is that it's probably got something to do with genetic factors. Link to post Share on other sites
Dr. Beat Posted July 27, 2018 Share Posted July 27, 2018 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24045903 This abstract here describes how different biomarkers are associated with people who are asexual. We talked a bit about this in my genetics course. No one knows for sure yet, but there are people who argue that orientation is genetic or epigenetic. Both of these make sense considering people are born this way and it's not really something that happens later in life. From what I know of biology and ecology (though note I'm not a scientist and I don't have my degree in biology yet), maybe asexuality has something to do with fertility of a group combined with how we raise our kids? since people are such social animals with such complex social groups, maybe we go more for survival of the fittest group rather than just the individual? I don't know. Link to post Share on other sites
allieace Posted July 27, 2018 Share Posted July 27, 2018 2 hours ago, AshenPhoenix said: There's been a lot of promising research that most sexuality-related things are either genetic or epigenetic. Especially re: homosexuality (since it's had the most research done on it). It's been long held for a while that sexuality in general is either genetic or determined at an incredibly early age and unable to be changed from there on out (namely the fact that pretty much every sexual orientation humans exhibit, including asexuality, is also present in multiple animal species, so many argue that environmental or psychological factors that humans exhibit are null and void). I saw a super interesting TED talk (I'll have to run and find the link) once that talked about how humans who have a stressful pregnancy are more likely to have homosexual children, or people who've already have more than 4 children have an exponential chance of producing a homosexual one. So the "evolutionary advantage" theory that a lot of people were shooting down a few years ago re: differing sexualities is actually starting to make more and more sense as we consider epigenetics a factor. BUT. All my rambling aside, yes, there's a large chance that asexuality, as it is becoming apparent most sexualities are, is either genetic or hereditary in some form. With a note being that if something is genetic it doesn't always have to show anyway, variation is the master of evolution after all. But may be more common in some families than others. Or at least, some families and genetic factors may lead to greater likelihood of an ace child than others. Or, it could simply be that it's present in all human beings, and some are more likely than others... Or or, it could be that it's present in all but epigenetic factors lead to one over the other. Who knows! All that's likely true is that it's probably got something to do with genetic factors. This is probably the most informative response I've received, thank you so much! I was looking for someone to validate my thoughts and experiences and an objective post like this really helped me out. Link to post Share on other sites
saraha13 Posted July 27, 2018 Share Posted July 27, 2018 I definitely think asexuality has a big genetic/biological component! Genetics aren't just shaped purely by biology and such, however. There's a lot of cool research on how the environment and social circumstances not only influence what genes are expressed, but can actually alter genes and DNA. I think that can explain why some things aren't just passed down through families or that siblings and twins can have different sexual orientations - biology, genetics, sexuality, are all complicated processes with a lot of things influencing them! I would argue there is a biological/genetic base though - just remembering that that base can be influenced by lots of things. Link to post Share on other sites
Artistofnoname Posted July 28, 2018 Share Posted July 28, 2018 Unlikely. Link to post Share on other sites
Karst Posted July 28, 2018 Share Posted July 28, 2018 So many traits are affected by both heredity and environment that it can be hard to pinpoint the cause in a specific individual. I would hypothesize that human sexuality is one of these. Link to post Share on other sites
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