# Belly buttons and genetics **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 6, 2001, 7:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/belly-buttons-and-genetics/75088 "2001-08-06T07:28:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![jackas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3bc359/32.png) [@jackas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackas)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2001, 7:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/belly-buttons-and-genetics/75088/1 "2001-08-06T07:28:57Z")
What is the deal with innies and outies? I had an argument with a friend over the weekend about the formation of our belly buttons and weather the way the doctor cuts and clamps the umbilical cord has any effect on the way your belly button forms. I say that it would but she seems to think that your innie/outie belly button is predetermined through genetics and that nothing the doctor does will stop it forming a certain way. So which is it? ---
**Author:** ![pezwookiee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9d8465/32.png) [@pezwookiee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pezwookiee)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2001, 8:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/belly-buttons-and-genetics/75088/2 "2001-08-06T08:22:03Z")
This is funny 'cause I was just going to post a thread about this. I had always thought that is was the way the doctors cut the umbilical cord… then I realized something: All of the outies I know are African Americans. I know that there are outies of every size, shape, and color out there (probably), but still it seemed kinda weird when this thought hit me. Am I completely crazy? ---
**Author:** ![bare](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bare/32/471_2.png) [@bare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bare)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2001, 11:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/belly-buttons-and-genetics/75088/3 "2001-08-06T11:28:32Z")
Having birthed five children at home, I can confidently tell you that “innies” and “outies” are determined by the father. 'Sthat answer your question? Thought not. ---
**Author:** ![Rue\_DeDay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/41988e/32.png) [@Rue\_DeDay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rue_DeDay)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2001, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/belly-buttons-and-genetics/75088/4 "2001-08-06T12:58:07Z")
It’s a genetic thing. Where the cord is cut makes no difference. The cord does not “become” the belly button. It’s made of different stuff. The belly button is just a jumped up scar. -Rue. ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2001, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/belly-buttons-and-genetics/75088/5 "2001-08-06T12:58:41Z")
In [Why some belly buttons are innies and others are outies](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1_089.html) Cecil attributes the difference to the “vagaries of fetal development and the healing process”. Truthfully, he doesn’t seem to even consider a genetic factor (which may simply indicate that genetics is so silly an explanation for belly button shape as to be beneath consideration). ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2001, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/belly-buttons-and-genetics/75088/6 "2001-08-06T12:58:41Z")
It has nothing to do with how the cord is cut. It’s a combination of genetics (from both mom and dad) and intra-uterine environmental influences. Qadgop, MD ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2001, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/belly-buttons-and-genetics/75088/7 "2001-08-06T12:59:51Z")
Hmmm…did the Master not do his homework here? ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2001, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/belly-buttons-and-genetics/75088/8 "2001-08-07T02:46:17Z")
I didnt see a date on the article - maybe at the time of writing, the genetics of belly-buttons wasn’t even a field, and there was no information worth mentioning? ---
**Author:** ![jackas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3bc359/32.png) [@jackas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackas)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2001, 8:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/belly-buttons-and-genetics/75088/9 "2001-08-07T08:12:09Z")
This seems to be a bit clearer now. This link has also helped. [http://www.nctimes.com/news/2001/20010325/cc.html](http://www.nctimes.com/news/2001/20010325/cc.html) I now have another question which just came to me. Assuming here that Adam and Eve existed, did they have belly buttons and if so, why? In pictures that have been drawn do the artists include the belly button? ---
**Author:** ![choosybeggar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8c91f0/32.png) [@choosybeggar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/choosybeggar)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2001, 9:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/belly-buttons-and-genetics/75088/10 "2001-08-07T09:53:38Z")
Not to demean the topic at hand, but I am consistently amazed by the attention paid to the umbilicus. From the, “did Adam have one?” crew all the way to the, “innies versus outies mob.” Genetics determines it, so freaking what. Truth be told, the bellybutton is a scar whose form bears little meaning. This being the case, why do I find a flat-bellied, navel-pierced young thing so irresistable?