Nature's Choice

Dr. Cheryl L. Weill received a B.S. degree from the College of Chemistry at the University of California at Berkeley in 1969 and a Ph.D. degree in chemistry from the University of California at Santa Barbara in 1974. After additional training in molecular neuroscience at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratories, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, Woods Hole Marine Biological Laboratories, and Harvard Medical School she embarked on an independent research and teaching career in the Departments of Neurology and Anatomy and the Neuroscience Center at Louisiana State University Health Science Center in New Orleans, Louisiana. Her research was supported by the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation and concerned the survival of neurons during development, and the identification of the genes and the molecular signals used by neurons for their survival. In 1993, she presented a lecture on the biology of sexual orientation at the PFLAG National Convention and has presented updated material upon which Nature's Choice is based forty-six times to PFLAG chapters, medical school classes, continuing education classes, graduate school classes, churches, social worker and other organizations. She retired from academic science in 1999, obtaineed a Masters of Social Work degree from the University of Denver in 2001, is licensed as an LSW and is in private clinical practice in Denver, CO.

Foreword
Preface
Acknowledgments
Chapter 1. Introduction
Chapter 2. Definitions
Homosexuality is Not a Mental Disorder or Disease
Gender Characterization
Sexual Orientation
Two Myths
Summary
Chapter 3. Human Sexual Development
Morphological Development
Neurological Development
Summary
Chapter 4. Hormones and Sexual Development
Gonadal Hormones and How They Work
Studies of Normal Animals
Animal Experiments
Nature’s Human Experiments
Summary
Chapter 5. Gestational Neurohormonal Theory
Neuro-Organization
Sex-Typical Behavior
Deductions
Summary
Chapter 6. Science
What is Science?
Experimental Design
What Science Can Tell Us
Science in the United States
Summary
Chapter 7. Genetics
Family Studies
Twin Studies
Genetic Linkage Analysis
Specific Genes
Summary
Chapter 8. Brain Anatomy
Sex-Specific Behavior Patterns
Suprachiasmatic Nucleus
The Anterior Hypothalamus
The Anterior Commissure
Summary
Chapter 9. Sex-Typical Behavior in Children
Summary
Chapter 10. Anthropometrics: Body Measurements
Long Bones
Finger Length Ratio
Dermatoglypics: Fingerprint Analysis
Height and Weight
Waist to Hip Ratio in Women
Penis Size
Onset of Puberty
Summary
Chapter 11. Sensory Systems
Hearing
Eye-Blink Startle Reflex
Smelling
Summary
Chapter 12. Cerebral Lateralization
Handedness
Cognitive Functions
Sexual Orientation
Summary
Chapter 13. Gay Men and Older Brothers
The Fraternal Birth Order Effect
Maternal Immune Hypothesis
Older Brothers and Other Characteristics
Summary
Chapter 14. Maternal Behaviors
Stress
Alcohol
Nicotine
Hormones
Prescription Drugs
Summary
Chapter 15. Conclusions
Summary of Positive and Null Effects
Chapter 16. The Use of Science
Chapter 17. Epilogue
Appendix
Glossary
Notes
Bibliography
Index