Can you choose the sex of your baby?

bazwaldo

The pressure is on from the mrs to have another :eek::eek: before we're too old to do so. If we do go for it, obviously a healthy baby is what we want, but if we had a way to tip the scales in favour of a girl, then we would. To even it up a little:D. I did a bit of searching and found this link which I have cut and pasted below. I have heard of some them before, some rumour and some from people who have achieved their "target". The first 3 seem to make sense.


Unfortunately there is no medical evidence that any of the old wives tales said to help you to choose the sex of your baby actually work. However there is always someone who will tell you it worked for them so why not give it a go!

You are said to conceive a girl if:

you have sex a few days before your day of ovulation. Female sperm are thought to be stronger and therefore last longer than male sperm, which may die off before reaching the egg.

you stop having unprotected sex four to five days before ovulation, to minimise the chances of the male sperm reaching the egg first

you have sex frequently to lower your partner's sperm count, and so increase the chances of the female sperm reaching the egg first

you keep penetration shallow

your partner reaches orgasm before you

you drink plenty of milk and eat dairy products such as cheese and yoghurt, unsalted foods, rice, pasta, certain vegetables, mineral water, limited amounts of meat and potatoes

you avoid salt and any salty foods, wine and beer, fresh fruit, spinach, tomatoes and mushrooms, chocolate, coffee and tea.

your partner keeps his genitals warm by wearing close-fitting underwear and tight trousers (although this isn't likely to do his general fertility any good!)

you suggested the love-making

you make love in the afternoon

you make love on even days of the month

you put a wooden spoon under your bed and a pink ribbon under your pillow

You are said to conceive a boy if:

you have sex on the day of ovulation. Male sperm are thought to swim faster and reach the egg first.

you avoid sex for a week before ovulation and then only have sex once on ovulation day, to keep the sperm count high

your partner has a high sperm count. Male sperm are not as strong as female sperm, and so the higher the count, the more chance there is of a male sperm reaching the egg first

you have deep penetration during sex

you reach orgasm before your partner, this releases an alkaline fluid thought to be more male-sperm friendly than the vagina's natural acidity

you eat salty food, plenty of meat, fish, white flour, pasta, fresh fruit, certain vegetables

you avoid milk and dairy products, such as yoghurt and cheese, nuts, chocolate, shellfish and wholemeal bread.

your partner keeps his genitals cool by wearing boxer shorts and loose-fitting trousers

your partner suggested the love-making

you make love at night

you make love on odd days of the month

DanGlee

An interesting read.

I am also hoping to have a girl. The missus is due in April (like you said, so long as its healthly) but the scales would be tipped in preference for the female sex.

I can honestly say I would have ticked a few of the first boxes on the list. She also did the gold ring test a few times (before and during pregnancy) and we have the ring going in circles and not back and forth, which would also indicate a girl (again, more old wives tales).

We don't know what we are having. Personally, I think its a boy as she has 3 brothers and I have 1 brother. Maybe its just a feeling I get for it being a boy, only time will tell (about 8 weeks...and freaking out daily!) :eek::eek::eek:

Oh and she is carrying at the front... another old wives tale!

Best of luck... if this thread is still going come the 17(ish) of April I will let you know what we had.

bazwaldo

On our last child, we swore we were having a girl. On the lead up to D-day, a friend of the mrs asked her if she was asked to look away when having the scan done. And she was asked this, so her friend said we would have a boy. And we did.

So they must reckon we could see that "extra" piece of equipment when the scan has that area on screen. If its a girl you may not notice. For me, I doubt I would have noticed anyway as its a struggle to make out a leg unless pointed out to me.

DanGlee

Oh noooo...

Now that mean that at our next scan if we are told to look away I will know its a boy! (or assume its a boy!)

She did ask us if we wanted to know on the 26th (ish) week scan and we (we being me... she's mad to know) said no, but I still couldn't stop myself from staring at the screen... I couldn't see nothing, only the head and face was all I could make out!

Its gas though, cos you get some people that just say "your have a boy" like they know... my mother is convinced its a girl, my friends are convinced its a boy... argh! its so frustrating, but at the same time I know I would regret finding out... it takes away from that final moment of it being born and still wondering!

haha, listen to me, I sound like I know what I'm talking about and its our first one!

littlebitdull

I love the fact that if you suggest sex its a girl, or if your partner suggests it then it will be a boy.!! Just something funny about that amongst all other ideas!!

But I would deff agree with this one "you put a wooden spoon under your bed and a pink ribbon under your pillow" .... we did that and have two girls. I swear!!

IsThatSo?

A friend of mine tried the recommendations above (I think there is a book called The Sperm meets Egg plan, or something resembling that title). She was trying for a girl, and had a boy. They followed this to the letter btw.

The "female sperm live longer, male sperm swim faster" theory is the only one, for me, that would have any basis in science. Think of it, men are stronger than women, but women do have more stamina than men. To my mind it is possible that this would also be true for male and female sperm But if a woman does not know what day of cycle she ovulates then it makes that theory redundant. Just to complicate things ovulation days can change too.

TBH, its not something I would bother with, I would just take my chances rather than set myself up for a possible fall. As OP said, at the end of the day all that matters is a healthy happy child and even if one is disappointed initially the child still ends up being loved and treasured. Thats just me though

994

Think of it, men are stronger than women, but women do have more stamina than men. To my mind it is possible that this would also be true for male and female sperm

Women don't have more (physical) stamina; do you see them winning marathons? There are no "male" and "female" sperm as a sperm is a cell, not an organism. Some have 22 regular chromosomes and an X; some 22 + Y. I don't know if genes on the X or Y are expressed in sperm; if they are, there could be some differences.

The best advice (unfortunately) is: be old. Older women have more daughters, because think about it: having sons older than daughters is better protection than old daughters and young sons.

embee

994 wrote: »

The best advice (unfortunately) is: be old. Older women have more daughters, because think about it: having sons older than daughters is better protection than old daughters and young sons.

Can you back any of this garbage up with proven statistical data, or is it just guff?

If it's guff, kindly stop posting such nonsense.

Quackles

994 wrote: »

The best advice (unfortunately) is: be old. Older women have more daughters, because think about it: having sons older than daughters is better protection than old daughters and young sons.

Considering sperm determines gender, I can't see what effect advanced maternal age would have. Sounds like another old wives tale.

Now the wooden spoon/ribbon theory, that I'm down with

rob1891

embee wrote: »

Can you back any of this garbage up with proven statistical data, or is it just guff?

If it's guff, kindly stop posting such nonsense.

This thread is full of nonsense and from an evolutionary point of view, maybe 994 is the least nonsensical! People will believe anything they want to.

lostinnappies

I heard that if youre pregnancy begins during the hotter months you are more likly to have a girl and cooler months would be a boy. Dont know how true that is but i have two boyz both conceived Jan and Feb (cold months).;)

Dfens

994 wrote: »

There are no "male" and "female" sperm as a sperm is a cell, not an organism.

994 wrote: »

Some have 22 regular chromosomes and an X; some 22 + Y.

Correct, but in layman's terms I think the posters are referring to those sperm which are X-bearing as 'female' and those as Y-bearing as 'male' - afterall there is no such distinction applicable for the egg as all are X-carrying (normally).

In relation to the rationale behind timing of egg release/fertilization etc for sex selection of the baby - the 'male' sperm are thought to be faster moving as they carry the Y chromosome which is much smaller in size than the X (hence lighter sperm & can move faster).

Only certain way for selection sex of the unborn is by IVF and determination of chromosomal pattern of the fertilized embyro prior to implantation.

Catari Jaguar

Everyone one on my Mums side; aunts, cousin etc had girl babies first if their name started with A (Ann, Aoife...) and boys if it didn't.

taram

Imagine you'd only be able to get this if you have severe Y linked diseases in your family, if you can even get it here, but you can sperm sort using dyes, X will take up more dye, but you'll always get some male sperm that have escaped detection, think the success rate is around 90%. The other is only implanting female embryos. Neither is vaguely sensible unless medical needed imho.

I vote for luck

Tillotson

Switch babies in the infant ward

I guarantee this works every time

bazwaldo

Just to report back.... I succumbed to the pressure without much resistence :P

Our baby girl is now 3 days old . We tried to keep to the first few suggestions but it was a bit half arsed. To be honest, I think the pink ribbon under the blanket did the trick. :pac:

January

Congrats on your baby girl

rccaulfield

bazwaldo wrote: »

The pressure is on from the mrs to have another :eek::eek: before we're too old to do so. If we do go for it, obviously a healthy baby is what we want, but if we had a way to tip the scales in favour of a girl, then we would. To even it up a little:D. I did a bit of searching and found this link which I have cut and pasted below. I have heard of some them before, some rumour and some from people who have achieved their "target". The first 3 seem to make sense.


Unfortunately there is no medical evidence that any of the old wives tales said to help you to choose the sex of your baby actually work. However there is always someone who will tell you it worked for them so why not give it a go!

You are said to conceive a girl if:

you have sex a few days before your day of ovulation. Female sperm are thought to be stronger and therefore last longer than male sperm, which may die off before reaching the egg.

you stop having unprotected sex four to five days before ovulation, to minimise the chances of the male sperm reaching the egg first

you have sex frequently to lower your partner's sperm count, and so increase the chances of the female sperm reaching the egg first

you keep penetration shallow

your partner reaches orgasm before you

you drink plenty of milk and eat dairy products such as cheese and yoghurt, unsalted foods, rice, pasta, certain vegetables, mineral water, limited amounts of meat and potatoes

you avoid salt and any salty foods, wine and beer, fresh fruit, spinach, tomatoes and mushrooms, chocolate, coffee and tea.

your partner keeps his genitals warm by wearing close-fitting underwear and tight trousers (although this isn't likely to do his general fertility any good!)

you suggested the love-making

you make love in the afternoon

you make love on even days of the month

you put a wooden spoon under your bed and a pink ribbon under your pillow

You are said to conceive a boy if:

you have sex on the day of ovulation. Male sperm are thought to swim faster and reach the egg first.

you avoid sex for a week before ovulation and then only have sex once on ovulation day, to keep the sperm count high

your partner has a high sperm count. Male sperm are not as strong as female sperm, and so the higher the count, the more chance there is of a male sperm reaching the egg first

you have deep penetration during sex

you reach orgasm before your partner, this releases an alkaline fluid thought to be more male-sperm friendly than the vagina's natural acidity

you eat salty food, plenty of meat, fish, white flour, pasta, fresh fruit, certain vegetables

you avoid milk and dairy products, such as yoghurt and cheese, nuts, chocolate, shellfish and wholemeal bread.

your partner keeps his genitals cool by wearing boxer shorts and loose-fitting trousers

your partner suggested the love-making

you make love at night

you make love on odd days of the month

All babble im afraid. If you use ivf you can choose the sex at the 8celled split stage. Thats the only way! Alot of people use it if hereditary conditions that will be passed onto Males are a certainty to have a female baby!

Sleepy

bazwaldo wrote: »

On our last child, we swore we were having a girl. On the lead up to D-day, a friend of the mrs asked her if she was asked to look away when having the scan done. And she was asked this, so her friend said we would have a boy. And we did.

So they must reckon we could see that "extra" piece of equipment when the scan has that area on screen. If its a girl you may not notice. For me, I doubt I would have noticed anyway as its a struggle to make out a leg unless pointed out to me.

Congrats on the new arrival but just to dispell this one, I could tell from our daughter's scan that it was a girl. Might be easier to detect a boy but once the ultra-sound wand is at the right angle you can clearly see female genitalia too.

cynder

i had a girl , boy, boy and all worked according to that theory that you will have a girl if you do the deed before you ovulate and for a boy when you ovulate or the day after.

i know when i ovulate because im in that much pain i cant walk for 36 hours. it also ment very painfull sex when i wanted to have a boy. but it worked and i had 2 boys both on the first go. the girl was a delightful accident.

Das Kitty

Sleepy wrote: »

Congrats on the new arrival but just to dispell this one, I could tell from our daughter's scan that it was a girl. Might be easier to detect a boy but once the ultra-sound wand is at the right angle you can clearly see female genitalia too.

I did reasearch youtubing before our scan so I would be able to tell the sex. If he was a girl I don't know would I have been as certain of what I saw. But when you look at scan videos online you can quickly get used to judging by the between the legs angle what the gender is.