It seems that it’s not just mum’s body that changes during pregnancy.
While many women find that their bodies go through a lot of physical changes during and after pregnancy according to a study by the National Academy of Sciences, men can also experience physical changes.
In fact, some men find that their testosterone dips quite significantly after they become fathers.
In research performed by Dr Lee Gettler, Ph.D., a group of 624 single, childless men in the Philippines from age 21 to 26 were studied.
Gettler found that while all men in the study experienced normal, age-related dips in testosterone, the 465 men who became dads during that five-year period experienced a more significant drop.
In fact, Gettler found that it dropped by an average of 34 per cent more than those who remained childless.
While no one can be 100 per cent certain on why this drop occurs Dr Gettler has his own theories;
“We found that if brand new fathers had lower testosterone the day after their babies were born they did more caregiving and baby-related household tasks months later.”
Studies have also found that becoming a father alters the structure of man’s brain similar to those seen in mums to help them adapt to their new life as a dad.
