The womb makes it easy being a girl. How the placenta protects girls more than boys.

Abstract

In May of 2014, Medical Daily’s Dana Dovey, asked the question; “Why is it harder for baby boys to grow in the womb than baby girls?” The answer came down to simply this, the placenta. In a study published by the Molecular Human Reproduction published in the Oxford Journal, stated that “There is strong evidence that human males and females differ in terms of growth and development in utero and that these divergent growth strategies appear to place males at increased risk when in sub-optimal conditions.” Since the placenta is the interface of maternal–fetal exchange throughout pregnancy, these developmental differences are most likely orchestrated by differential placental function. Many scientists have theorized that stressful times may cause the mother to abort weaker fetuses to make room for a more viable one later in the mother’s life. Such events like famine, war and even the 9/11 attacks, all showed a decline in male births.