Navy Divers Inquiry
(N.Z Press Assn.—Copyright) PORTSMOUTH (England). Naval scientists have launched an investigation into why so many of the children of deep-sea divers turn out to be girls. Nearly 80 per cent of deepsea divers’ wives give birth to daughters, according to statistics collected by Royal Navy experts—and doctors are puzzled. A questionnaire is being sent to the Royal Navy's underwater men around the world to glean information about their children's sex and what sort of diving job they were doing at the time of conception. Commander Philip White, who heads the research, said he began looking into this when a 12-rnan diving team with their wives in Malta produced 11 girls and only one son. "It turned out that the son was conceived while his father was temporarily off diving duties,” he said. “I believe that this is a good deal more than chance. It might even be a key to predetermining the sex of a child,” said the commander, who is himself a diver and father of two girls.
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Bibliographic details
Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31655, 16 April 1968, Page 15
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172Navy Divers Inquiry Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31655, 16 April 1968, Page 15
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