Women on the Pill Attract Mr. Wrong

A new study shows that the birth control pill may affect the way women respond to pheromones —making them more likely to choose partners with whom they are not genetically compatible. Previous studies have shown that couples who have different aromatic genetic make-ups are more likely to be faithful and to have children with stronger immune systems. Now, in a study involving 100 women, British researchers have found that women on the pill prefer men whose genetic odours are similar to their own.

According to the study’s researchers, this change in odour attraction could lead to both fertility and relationship problems — since odour plays such a large role in attraction, women who go off the pill could stop feeling attracted to the partners whom they previously couldn’t get enough of.

The researchers suggest that the reason for this shift is
that the pill essentially fools the body into believing it’s pregnant (hence the cessation of ovulation). If I’m already knocked up, the body seems to think, there’s no need for me to be on the prowl for compatible mates.

This is all fascinating to me, but I’m not ready to object to any weddings over it. As fertility professor Bill Ledger, of Sheffield University, said: ‘Whilst a relationship is going, I would think the intellectual and emotional feeling you have for that person would surely override what their sweat smells like.’

Photo: CTV.ca