Study shows genetic link to age of first sex, childbirth

Is it in our genes? Photo / 123RF

You might think that your first time was linked to a number of factors, such as love, lust, morality or social mores.

But new research has revealed that the age we lose our virginity may actually be tied to our unique genetic code.

An international team of scientists, led by Oxford University and including input from New Zealand, found 371 regions of our DNA that influence milestones such as when we first have sex and have our first baby, both for women and men.

"This is one of these studies where you wonder, did my genes make me do it?" Andrew Shelling, head of the University of Auckland's Medical Genetics Research Group, told The AM Show.

Shelling also revealed that environmental factors do play a bigger part, saying: "Just because they found a correlation with a gene doesn't mean to say that's going to cause us to have sex at an earlier age than anyone else."

The study's leader, Professor Melinda Mills at the Leverhulme Centre for Demographic Science at the University of Oxford, said that the research could have wide-ranging implications.

"Age at first sexual intercourse and age at first birth have implications for health and evolutionary fitness. We anticipate that our results will address important interventions in infertility, teenage sexual and mental health," she said.

Professor Mills told the Daily Mail that the study shows an "interaction of both nature and nurture".

According to a 2016 survey by condom makers Durex, New Zealand had one of the youngest average ages of first sex in the countries surveyed.

Kiwis had an average age of 17.5, compared to 18.4 in the US and 21.2 in China.

• Brazil 17.3
• New Zealand 17.5
• Germany 17.8
• UK 18.3
• US 18.4
• Canada 18.5
• France 18.7
• Ireland 18.7
• Mexico 19.1
• Spain 19.5
• Japan 20.4
• China 21.2
• India 22.5
• Malaysia 23.7

However, an earlier study from a Kiwi sex toy retailer showed that our sexual confidence doesn't peak until our late 20s, spiking again in our early 50s.