Have you chosen to avoid synthetic hormones and go the natural route instead? Sadly, you are undoubtedly still taking in body-disruptive chemicals that interfere with your endocrine system. This is not about the amount of estrogen in the water supply, we know that occurs through the vast numbers of women taking the Pill and HRT, and that male fertility and sperm count has been affected.
What is new is that these chemicals could be affecting the sex of your unborn child. A Danish government report has confirmed that chemicals such as PVC, flame retardants, phthalates, dioxins, PCBs and bisphenol-A are probably continuing to contribute to the birth of fewer males and the feminization of existing ones.
These chemicals all mimic the action of estrogen in the body and the 326 page report concludes that due to the prevalence of these chemicals, children could easily be exposed to high enough levels to place them at critical risk of harm.
This is not the first report to raise a warning flag as a previous study by researchers at Erasmus University in Rotterdam, Netherlands, found that male children who had been exposed to PCBs and dioxins while in the womb were more likely to dress up in female clothes and play with dolls than boys who had not been. Other research has documented a connection between prenatal exposure to phthalates (a family of industrial chemicals that are used as plastic softeners or solvents in many different consumer products) and boys who were found to have smaller penises and the feminization of male genitals.
It certainly makes sense that if you are a user of natural hormones that you may want to look wider to see where these endocrine-disrupting chemicals occur in your life.