Women’s high pitch voice points to fertility

A woman’s voice tends to rise in pitch the closer she is to ovulation, according to research published in the Royal Society Journal Biology Letters. Researchers believe this is because a higher pitch is more attractive and more feminine, thus signalling fertility to potential partners.

Scientists at the University of California recorded the voices of 69 women to examine whether they raise their voice pitch during ovulation. Using hormone tests the women were recorded at two phases of their ovulatory cycle, once when fertility was low and once near ovulation. Results showed that the closer women were to ovulation, the more they raised their pitch.

Interestingly, this difference was apparent only when women spoke a simple introductory sentence such as ‘hi, I’m a student at UCLA’ – and not for simple vowel sounds. According to the researchers, this shows that women change their voice in relation to fertility and possibly only in social communication contexts.

The findings follow other recent studies which have documented several detectable ovulatory cues in humans, including midcycle increases in body scent attractiveness, flirtation and attention to style of dress.

(Source: Royal Society Journal Biology Letters: The Royal Society: October 2008)