Every child has a special bond with their grandma, especially their mom’s mom.
An Instagram video by @momhustlempire explaining this connection has gone viral, with over 182,000 likes since May 8.
“Have you ever wondered why you feel such a special bond with your grandmother on your mother’s side?” said the caption on the video.
“It’s because she once carried you inside her womb. A female fetus is born with all the eggs she will ever have in her lifetime. So, when your grandmother was carrying your mother, you were already present as a tiny egg in your mama’s ovaries. The three of you have been connected for generations.”
@momhustlempire shared in her caption that discovering this fact made everything clear to her.
She described her strong bond with her maternal grandmother and how others often noticed their similarities.
As a mother now, she sees a similar strong connection developing between her daughter and her mother, expressing, “We’ve been connected for generations in a way that I never imagined.”
Commenters were touched by the discovery, saying it validated their feelings about their grandmothers.
One person shared that even though their mom’s mom passed away before they were born, they always felt a close, spiritual connection with her, and now they understand why.
Dr. Alex Robles from Columbia University Fertility Center discussed the validity and limits of this bond with Newsweek.
Robles confirmed that a woman is born with all her eggs, with the highest number present in the womb.
He explained that the egg that eventually created a person was already in their mother’s ovaries when she was in her grandmother’s womb.
However, proving any emotional impact across generations remains a challenge.
“Scientifically, it’s difficult to prove that this increases the emotional connection to the maternal grandmother,” she said, stating that an egg is not an embryo; both the egg and sperm contribute equally to the DNA that shapes a person.
Understanding emotional bonds biologically is challenging, but oxytocin, known as the “love hormone,” is significant in strengthening the bond between mothers and their infants during childbirth and breastfeeding.
Cultural factors also influence this bond, with mothers often showing heightened attentiveness and attachment to their children, which deepens the psychological connection.
Moreover, the child’s special bond with a maternal grandma is likely strengthened through the time and care they share during early childhood.
Meanwhile, another theory shows a strong genetic connection between maternal grandmothers and their children.
The theory says the connection between grandmothers and grandchildren varies due to the X-chromosome inheritance.
Maternal grandmothers share 25% of their X chromosomes with grandsons and granddaughters.
In contrast, paternal grandmothers pass on an X chromosome exclusively to granddaughters, leading to a 50% X-relatedness. At the same time, they have no X-relatedness with grandsons.
Another theory suggests that “paternal uncertainty” affects how much grandparents, especially paternal relatives like grandmothers, engage in caregiving.
This uncertainty arises because men cannot always be sure they are biological fathers, unlike women who give birth.
This may lead to reduced involvement of paternal relatives in caregiving over time.
In contrast, the maternal lineage, where women are always certain of their biological connection to their children, tends to maintain a strong and consistent caregiving bond across generations.
According to the theory proposed by Alejandro Jodorowsky, a Chilean writer and artist, our strongest connection among all grandparents is typically with our maternal grandmothers.
He suggests that genes can skip a generation and be directly inherited from grandparents to grandchildren, evidenced by some people resembling their grandparents more than their parents.
Additionally, Jodorowsky proposes that mothers not only pass on biological traits but also transmit emotions to their daughters, who pass these emotions to their children.
Watch the viral video below:
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I have always felt equally linked to my grandmothers even though my father lost his mother to TB when he was a child. It’s almost impossible to account for how we are drawn more to one relative than another, but it’s there. I feel there is a spiritual link.
When I met my sister yesterday, she had forgotten her phone and she seemed quite panicky when I had walked past her, not expecting her to be sitting outside our meeting place. I think we are very close in our emotional and intellectual lives.