telegonic
/ˌtɛlɪˈɡɑnɪk/
adjective
- Relating to or involving telegony, the now-discredited theory that a previous mate can influence the offspring of a later mate.
- Nineteenth-century biologists debated telegonic inheritance, but modern genetics has disproven it.
- The telegonic hypothesis was once used to explain traits in children that resembled a mother's earlier partner.
- The idea of telegonic influence has been revived in some pseudoscientific circles.