Sexual minority status is associated with earlier recalled age of menarche: Evidence from the 2005-2016 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.

Our findings reveal that SM status is associated with earlier ages of menarche, an important social and reproductive milestone. We argue that uniting life history theory with the minority stress hypothesis better explains differences in menarcheal timing by sexual orientation than previous paradigms. Investigators should attend to sexual orientation-based variation in maturational timing using holistic, inclusive approaches.