Pilots and the sex of their children

[HolyMoley]

Is there any truth in the commonly held belief that pilots mainly have daughters rather than sons? Anecdotally it seems to be the case with the majority of my colleagues but what about the wider community? Would it be influenced by higher altitude flying in pressurised cabins? Is it just as true (or false) for female pilots as well as male?

[RHINO]

Hold on a second and I will just go and ask my sons!!

[9M_JON]

At one point in my former flying unit,all the pilots including myself have daughters.On an rough average, 80% would be daughters if we are lucky enough to have children.In a military outfit it is believed to have been caused by accumulated radiation from both aircraft & ground instruments.

Maybe lead ball guards should be a standard issued.

[Jet_A_Knight]

66.6% of mine are girls.

[LanFranc]

Years ago a University did a study to try and determine why 33 of 36 children born to pilots in an F111 squadron were girls. I believe they came up with exposure to stong electromagentic fields as the culprit. I'm on the A320 now and I have two girls. Its been my experience over the last 20 years that girls are by far the most common offspring for pilots.

[DSR10]

A few years back a similar survey of commercial divers showed a very high percentage of female births....got to be a pressure link somewhere.

[squeaker]

I've got 3 boys, been flying airliners for last 15 years. Maybe it has more to do with boxers-or-briefs preference! quick review of friends/colleagues and it seems no clear trend one way or t'other.

[G-DESK]

I believe there has been a proven link for military / fast jet pilots having an increased number of female offspring in several studies, but there has been no evidence to suggest a similar trend in other pilots. This Norwegian study http://www.medisin.ntnu.no/ism/nofe/norepid/1999(1)%2008-Irgens.pdf
studies a relatively small group of military pilots and another group of commercial pilots and finds reduced male offspring only in the military group.

I think the RAE did some research into this in the 80s, but I don't recall any specific details.

My father was a test pilot and had two girls :)

[Pub User]

I believe anyone who spends long periods sitting in one place is more likely to father a daughter than a son. The theory is that 'female' sperm are more resilient than 'male' sperm, so are more able to survive the overheating of the testes caused by such inaction. The phenomenon is also apparent in long-distance lorry drivers.

A straw poll among my Squadron colleagues a couple of years ago revealed about two-thirds of children to be daughters.

[wellthis]

HolyMoly that's an interesting discussion!!

While we are on the topic of radiation and its various effects on pilots, how does everyone feel about a radiation monitor system? Does any airline currently do that? Feed-back appreciated.