The best way to test it would be to study adoptees whose bio mothers smoked, but whose adopted parents didn't.
Mr. Cat's mom smoked during pregnancy and around him all his life. Not surprisingly, he is a smoker still. He's never NOT had nicotine.
Or they could look up past statistics and figure out what percentage of women smoked in the forties, fifties and sixties, etc. If this study is true then there should be a greater percentage of smokers in my generation than in the previous one. I think.
I disagree. Like you, my reasons are from personal experience.
My mother smoked with my brother, sister and me. The only one of us who actually took up smoking was me, the oldest, who got the least of mother's attention. My brother has never smoked and my sister did for a year in college. I did for about 15 years. Nobody in my family smokes now.