# odds of having 11 children of the same sex

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odds-of-having-11-children-of-the-same-sex/538610>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [May 7, 2010, 7:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odds-of-having-11-children-of-the-same-sex/538610 "2010-05-07T07:19:32Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
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**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\
**Post date:** [May 7, 2010, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odds-of-having-11-children-of-the-same-sex/538610/25 "2010-05-07T15:31:58Z")

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> [@Smeghead](#):
>
> Sure. But I have never heard of a condition that causes this, in all my years of studying biology. If you have, then by all means enlighten me. I can’t think off the top of my head how it would work, though. At least in humans.

Here’s a link to a [New York Times](http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/06/health/06real.html?_r=1&ref=health) article on the subject, referring to a study published in Evolutionary Biology. Here’s the relevant quote:

“Mr. Gellatly found evidence that men carry a gene that determines the percentage of X and Y chromosomes in their sperm, and that the gene comes in three alleles, or versions. One produces mostly X chromosomes, another mostly Y, and the third yields equal numbers of both.”

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