A year ago, Chris Birch, 26, was a 19st beer-swilling athlete from the Welsh valleys who loved motorbikes and was engaged to marry his girlfriend at the time.
However, after suffering a stroke, he woke up to realise that he was no longer attracted to women.
He has since slimmed down, quit his job in a bank to become a hairdresser and is engaged to another man. Reflecting on the dramatic change, Mr Birch, from Caerphilly, told the BBC: “The Chris I knew had gone and a new Chris sort of came along. I came to the realisation that the stroke had turned me gay.
“I'm happier now than I ever have been, why would I want to change?”
Mr Birch had been attempting a forward roll down a hill in 2011 when the blood supply to his brain was cut off, causing a stroke.
Without oxygen, any part of the brain can be destroyed as brain cells die, leaving the brain to make new connections, which can affect how a person thinks, moves or feels.
There are few known cases of a stroke turning a straight person gay, and major personality changes in stroke sufferers are rare. A change in sexual orientation in a stroke sufferer is a controversial issue that divides scientific opinion. Even Jak Powell, Birch's fiancé, believes his partner may always have been gay.
Dr Qazi Rahman, an expert in human sexual orientation who has researched the neurological differences between gay and straight people, invited Mr Birch to undergo tests to see if he may have been born gay.
He found that in half the tests, Mr Birch performed in the "expected direction" for a gay man, and for the other half was within the range of a straight man.
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
However, after suffering a stroke, he woke up to realise that he was no longer attracted to women.
He has since slimmed down, quit his job in a bank to become a hairdresser and is engaged to another man. Reflecting on the dramatic change, Mr Birch, from Caerphilly, told the BBC: “The Chris I knew had gone and a new Chris sort of came along. I came to the realisation that the stroke had turned me gay.
“I'm happier now than I ever have been, why would I want to change?”
Mr Birch had been attempting a forward roll down a hill in 2011 when the blood supply to his brain was cut off, causing a stroke.
Without oxygen, any part of the brain can be destroyed as brain cells die, leaving the brain to make new connections, which can affect how a person thinks, moves or feels.
There are few known cases of a stroke turning a straight person gay, and major personality changes in stroke sufferers are rare. A change in sexual orientation in a stroke sufferer is a controversial issue that divides scientific opinion. Even Jak Powell, Birch's fiancé, believes his partner may always have been gay.
Dr Qazi Rahman, an expert in human sexual orientation who has researched the neurological differences between gay and straight people, invited Mr Birch to undergo tests to see if he may have been born gay.
He found that in half the tests, Mr Birch performed in the "expected direction" for a gay man, and for the other half was within the range of a straight man.
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
