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BOB HIRSHON (host):
Low testosterone dads. I’m Bob Hirshon and this is Science Update.
New fathers undergo hormonal changes, including a drop in levels of testosterone, according to Notre Dame anthropologist Lee Gettler, speaking at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
LEE GETTLER:
And we’re also able to look at their day-to-day involvement with their children. And so we found that men who perform the most day to day childcare in a sort of hands on, physically caring way tend to have lower testosterone than fathers who report no involvement in those kind of activities.
HIRSHON:
Gettler says that low testosterone doesn’t mean “less masculine.”
GETTLER:
If you ask many fathers whether taking care of their kids and helping to provide for their family’s an important component of what makes them a man, or a good man, I think many would say “yes.”
HIRSHON:
He and his team are now looking at babies, mothers and fathers together as a system, and factors affecting the child’s emotional development. I’m Bob Hirshon, for AAAS, the science society.