• Question: why am i a boy

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      • Royal Society of Chemistry: Find out more about:
      Asked by Black scorpion to Elizabeth, James, Martin, Martin, Rob on 9 Mar 2015.
      • Photo: James Coombs OBrien

        James Coombs OBrien answered on 9 Mar 2015:

        Everything about you comes from your parents, half from your Mum and half from your Dad. This means there is a 50% chance of you being a boy or girl.

        What controls if you are a boy or a girl is something called a “chromosome”. You can either get one called XX which means you’ll be a girl or XY which means you are a boy. The chromosome you get from your mother is always an X but the one you get from your dad can either be X or Y. So it is your Dad who decided if you are a boy or a girl, but this was something he couldn’t control, it is all down to chance.

      • Photo: Martin Wieczysty

        Martin Wieczysty answered on 9 Mar 2015:

        Your DNA is basically a recipe for how to make YOU, what colour your eyes are, how tall you are, what colour of hair you have and also if you are a boy or a girl. Your DNA is a bit of a mixture from your Mum and Dad, and other random components. The DNA recipe is made up of 46 “Chromosomes” 23 from your Mum and 23 from your Dad. One of these decides if you are a boy or a girl, either XX for girl or XY for boy, and there is a 50% chance of being either a boy or a girl.

      • Photo: Elizabeth Cooper

        Elizabeth Cooper answered on 9 Mar 2015:

        Like James and Martin said its down to your DNA. If you have XX chromosome yoy are a girl and if you are XY you are a boy.

        It was completely random that you turned out to be a boy.

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