Alright, the cat's out of the bag - it's okay not to think newborns are cute.
In fact, according to a recent study, it's quite common for adults to think that newborns aren't adorable.
Eh, what?
The study, carried out by Brock University, asked 142 adults to rate the cuteness (from one to ten) of babies aged six months, three months and newborn.
The researchers then asked participants how willing they would be to adopt the babies, based on facial cues such as cuteness, health, happiness and self-resemblance- which influence how adults care for babies.
Tony Volk, lead researcher, aimed to discover how likely adults were to meet the needs of the babies based on their perceived cuteness.
The babies at 6 months old came out the clear winners on the cuteness scale.
According to Volk, this could be because of two evolutionary reasons.
"One theory is that babies' faces are cute, so babies themselves can get more care. That means the babies are in the driver's seat," Volk said, speaking to CBS. "[The other theory is] if adults are perceiving this differently, it suggests it's in the adult's interest if they find newborns as attractive as older infants."
From an evolutionary point of view, a lack of cuteness in a newborn is linked to their vulnerability. In olden times, when an infant was more susceptible to mortality, it helped for the parents not to get too attached if it passed. Whereas a baby that makes it to six months is stronger but still in need of attention.
"Parents [back then] had to make difficult decisions at times, whether or not they could afford a newborn baby," Volk said.
"[If parents] have a newborn baby and the mother is still nursing [a previous] baby, she can't nurse two babies effectively at once. [The mother] is going to invest in the older kid that she has because in the point of view of the parents, that kid has passed the danger zone."
Newborn babies are still at greater risk of illness than their older counterparts.
"If a newborn catches a small fever, it's a hospital event," said Volk. "However, if the same fever happens to a six-month-old baby, it's nothing [to be alarmed about.]"
The study also found that fathers are more likely to provide the baby with care and attention if it looks like them. Babies start to really resemble their parents around the (you guessed it) six-month mark.
Although, the definition of "cuteness" itself is fluid, as Volk notes.
"Preference for cuteness is arbitrary. We could evolve a preference for things such as thinking centipedes are really cute while flowers are really ugly."
So all babies are beautiful, it's just those pesky old evolutionary patterns that make us think otherwise.
