When you lose your virginity and have your first child may be partly written in your genes

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2021-07-02 01:00

Australia; International; NSW; QLD; SA

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International scientists, including Aussies, say they've identified 371 regions of our genetic code that appear to influence when we first have sex, and when we have our first child. And, surprisingly, they found the influence of genes on when women have their first child appears to have increased over the years - genes had a bigger influence over time of first birth for women born in 1965 (22 per cent) than for women born in 1940 (9 per cent). Some of the areas of DNA they identified are thought to be linked to reproductive functions, while others are linked to our behaviour, they say. They also found a link between having a first child later in life and living longer, free of type 2 diabetes and heart disease.