How Your Child's Gender Affects Your Likelihood of Divorce

 Posted on September 13, 2016 in Divorce

There are a lot of factors that affect a couple's likelihood of divorcing. These factors include the age of each partner when the couple married, each partner's education and income level, and whether the couple has the same socioeconomic and cultural background.

Other factors are not quite as obvious. For example, the genders of the couple's children. You might not think that your child's gender has any effect on your likelihood of divorcing, but research has found that parents of daughters have a slightly higher divorce rate than parents of sons.

Do not assume that just because you have a daughter, you will get divorced. Correlation does not imply causation, when whether your marriage will end in divorce or not hinges much more greatly on your ability to communicate effectively with your partner to resolve the conflicts that arise. If you are experiencing problems in your marriage, speak with an experienced divorce lawyer to determine all of your options. If you have exhausted all efforts to repair the issues you face, filing for divorce might be the healthiest option for all members of your family, regardless of their gender.

Parents of Daughters Are More Likely to Divorce Than Parents of Sons

But why? There are multiple theories about why daughters are linked with divorce. One theory posits that fathers are less likely to leave marriages that have produced sons. This could be because men become more invested in their sons' lives. Men may feel more strongly about their sons potentially having other men step in as father figures in their sons' lives after a divorce and thus feel compelled to stay in unhappy marriages until their sons reach adulthood.

Another theory places the agency on mothers, stating that mothers of daughters are more likely to seek divorce because they do not want to model unhealthy relationship dynamics for their daughters. Divorced mothers of daughters are also less likely to remarry than divorced mothers of sons.

Others theorize that it is not the child's gender that affects his or her parents' likelihood of divorce, but that the parent's marital harmony affects the gender of their child. Researchers at Duke University found that female embryos are hardier than male embryos and theorized that female embryos conceived in high-stress marriages were more likely to survive to birth. Thus, baby girls were simply more likely to be born to parents whose marriages were unstable and likely to end in divorce.

Work with an Experienced Kane County Divorce Lawyer

If you are considering filing for divorce or you have already done so, start working with an experienced Kane County divorce lawyer as soon as you can. Your lawyer can help you prepare for all aspects of the divorce process and provide you with the legal representation you need to ensure that you receive a fair divorce settlement. To learn more, contact The Goostree Law Group today to set up your initial legal consultation with a member of our firm.

Source:

http://psychcentral.com/news/2014/07/17/does-the-gender-of-children-predict-divorce/72599.html