Did Genetics Cause Your Divorce?

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Did Genetics Cause Your Divorce?

What caused your divorce? There are lots of things people blame divorce on, but a new reason is emerging. Genetics. A new study has found that whether or not you will get divorced might be linked to your genes. Scientists at Emory University say that a hormone called vasopressin greatly influences whether or not a man will be monogamous, and in turn how happy his wife will be in the marriage. Men who have more receptors for vasopressin (and thus use more of the hormone) are more likely to be monogamous. Those with fewer vasopressin receptors have been shown to be less like to be monogamous. Wives’ marital happiness was linked to the amount of vasopressin receptors their husbands had.

Many of the men with low vasopressin in the study were unmarried. Men who had two genes for low vasopressin (inheriting one from their mother and one from their father) were twice as likely to have had a marital crisis in the last year, if they were married. The study has made it clear that marital behavior can be influenced by genes.

The study may indicate that some people truly are not meant to be monogamous, a conclusion that some people reach on their own after a divorce!

There is speculation that there could actually be medical treatment in the future for men with low vasopressin, with hormone treatments that could increase the tendency to be monogamous. Genetics may play a role in divorce, but does not alter the outcome, which is why you need high quality legal representation in your case.

Call DeTorres & DeGeorge for assistance with your divorce or family law case in Oldwich, New Jersey and the surrounding areas. Call our office at 908-284-6005 for an appointment.

Divorce Guide
Erin D. DeGeorge
Erin D. DeGeorge joined DeTorres & DeGeorge, LLC as partner to the firm in June of 2010. Prior to joining DeTorres & DeGeorge, Erin was associated with the national firm of Fox Rothschild LLP and Cutler, Simeone, Townsend, Tomaio & Newmark, LLC...
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