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Is it true that the first daughter looks like the dad?

mybabysheartbeatbear.com - The Theory on Why Firstborns Look Like Dad - My Baby's Heartbeat Bear

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When my first baby was born, I had to laugh. I apparently gave birth to the female version of my husband. Over the years, she has slowly morphed into a mini-me, but that first year? She was unmistakably my husband’s daughter. (More like a miniature version of his mom!)

I’m not alone on seeing this similarity. It seems that most first-born children look like their dads at birth – and throughout that first year of life. But why? Now, none of my other four children came earthside looking like my husband – and yes, he is their father too. So why is it that just the first baby looked like him?

An article in Scientific American explains how the entire theory of newborns looking like their dad due to evolution and fathers recognizing their offspring at birth and during caveman days isn’t true – according to current studies. But I’m going to agree with the author of that article – and many other psychologists, midwives, doctors, and researchers who actually do believe this to be true. Mothers tend to always see the baby’s father in their newborn, and fathers tend to agree – especially with firstborns. It’s the outsiders, the extended family and friends who see otherwise. I believe that this evolutionary theory is still very much true, especially with firstborns. A new dad - one who has no idea what he is doing with this whole parenting thing, tends to be immediately attracted to an infant who resembles him in some way. He may not even know what it is, but there is something there that makes him know that baby is his. I can go a step further and say that new dads who may not think they are ready for parenthood – they may really need that resemblance to help them make the transition. You see, it all dates back to the cavemen. No real words were spoken, just drawings, hunting, animals, men, women, and sex. I may be wrong on all of that…. The cave-MEN would recognize their babies because they looked like them. I mean, that’s a pretty probable assumption. As much as we have progressed, this still seems quite probable, and when talking to midwives and doctors who deliver babies every day, they seem to believe the same. Maybe, after the first baby, the men catch the drift and understand that the kids are all theirs – so they don’t have to look so much life them…. But that first baby? Oh, that firstborn, that one is all Dad.

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Why do first born girls always look like their dad?

There's an old theory that says first-born babies were genetically predispositioned to look more like their father. It was believed this was so the father accepted the child was his and would provide and care for them. There's also another theory that says it was so he didn't eat the baby…

kiindred.co - Do first-born babies actually look more like their fathers? - Kiindred

There’s an old theory that says first-born babies were genetically predispositioned to look more like their father. It was believed this was so the father accepted the child was his and would provide and care for them. There’s also another theory that says it was so he didn’t eat the baby… These theories obviously date way, way back, long before paternity tests existed (or cannibalism was frowned upon). But even today, all new parents can’t help but look at their baby and wonder, who does it look like? It’s often one of the first things people will comment on when they meet a little one for the first time.

But is there actually any truth to the theory at all?

A 1995 study from the University of California sought to prove the theory by matching photos of 1-year-old children with pictures of their father. The study asked 122 participants to match photos of children at 1-year, 10-years and 20-years with photos of both their mothers and fathers. In infants, just under 50% guessed correctly for the fathers, as opposed to around 37% for the mothers. The success rates decreased significantly in 10-year-olds and rose slightly again in 20-year-olds. A similar study in 2004 with a much larger sample size found that, in fact, most infants resemble both parents equally. In concluding the study, co-author and psychologist at the University of Padova in Italy Paola Bressan noted that to the best of her knowledge, “no study has either replicated or supported” the findings from the 1995 study that stated babies resemble their fathers.

But even though the science isn’t there to back up the theory, why do so many of us say it rings true, that firstborns do tend to look more like their father?

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