Having Children Can Lower Testosterone in Men
Unless it's about late life low testosterone levels, we don't usually put much thought into the hormonal cycle of a man. But male hormones can be just as sensitive as women's — and new research now suggests that just as expecting mothers go through mood swings, food cravings, and weight gain, expecting men go through their own hormonal rite of fatherhood: a drop in testosterone just before a baby is born.
At the University of Michigan, psychologist Dr. Robin Edelstein and her colleagues looked at saliva samples of 29 first-time expecting fathers at various points before their partner's pregnancy; they found a decline in testosterone and estradiol as the due date approached. The drop is slight enough it isn't considered a clinical problem, but it may have its impact. "Men may not necessarily notice the changes themselves," Edelstein says. "But lower levels of testosterone could contribute to men being more nurturing and caring with their infants, and possibly even with their partners."
Read the full article "Having Children Can Lower Testosterone in Men" at Men's Journal.