Question
Do the laws of inheritance by the first born apply only to males?
Answer
The word BECHOR is used only for males in Tanach. The sources don’t explicitly say that a boy is called a BECHOR even if he was preceded by girls, but from the word “sons” in Deut.21:15 the Midrash Sifrei concludes that the laws of firstborn inheritance apply only to a son who is his father’s first born. A boy who was preceded by girls doesn’t have to be redeemed, but that’s because he wasn’t the first to come out of his mother’s womb (PETER RECHEM).