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Adult sexual behaviors were characterized in male rats prenatally exposed to ethanol, stress, or ethanol combined with stress; 60% to 75% of each group exhibited female-typical lordosis. A substantial proportion of males subjected to alcohol (44%) or to alcohol with stress (54%) failed to ejaculate. The adult genitalia and testicular size appeared normal in all groups. Either alcohol or stress can suppress fetal plasma testosterone. Thus, exposing pregnant dams to alcohol, particularly in association with stress, may alter the hormonal milieu of their male fetuses sufficiently to block full masculinization and defeminization of sexually dimorphic copulatory behavior potentials, but not anatomy. It appears that certain pharmacological and stressful factors can interact during fetal ontogeny to influence the process of sexual behavior differentiation.

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Restraint stress reduced blood alcohol levels in pregnant rats given a liquid alcohol diet. The male offspring prenatally exposed to both stress and alcohol failed to ejaculate spontaneously, although they copulated normally following exogenous testosterone (T) administration. Males prenatally exposed only to alcohol or only to stress showed no behavioral deficits. Adult serum