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Prenatal hormone changes present in expectant fathers
Expectant fathers experience some hormone changes, specifically declines in testosterone and estradiol, according to recent study findings published in the American Journal of Human Biology.
Robin S. Edelstein, PhD, of the department of psychology at the University of Michigan, and colleagues evaluated 29 first-time expectant couples to determine whether men experience hormonal changes during their partner’s pregnancies.
Robin S. Edelstein
Large prenatal increases in testosterone, cortisol, estradiol and progesterone were present in expectant women, whereas expectant men experienced decreases in testosterone and estradiol but no significant changes in cortisol (P=.96) or progesterone (P=.28) levels.
“Our findings for men support the hypothesis that testosterone declines prenatally in advance of fatherhood, but our findings differ from previous research with respect to prenatal changes in cortisol and estradiol,” the researchers wrote.
Both men and women showed significant variability for all four hormones (all P<.05). Within couples, the variability was significantly correlated with cortisol (P<.05) and progesterone (P<.05) but not testosterone (P=.47) or estradiol (P=.62).
“Thus, our findings provide some evidence for the interdependence between couple members’ hormone levels, but suggest that this interdependence may be stronger for some hormones than others,” the researchers wrote.
Further studies are needed to explore whether prenatal changes are linked to postpartum behaviors and adjustment.
“Other studies have shown that men’s hormones change once they become fathers, but our findings suggest that these changes may begin even earlier, during the transition to fatherhood,” Edelstein said in a press release. “We don’t yet know exactly why men’s hormones are changing; these changes could be a function of psychological changes that men experience as they prepare to become fathers, changes in their romantic relationships, or even physical changes that men experience along with their pregnant partners.”
Disclosure: The study was funded in part by the Institute for Research on Women and Gender at the University of Michigan and the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues. One researcher received a graduate research fellowship from the National Science Foundation.