Anyone tried for a particular gender?

[DefenceAgainstTheDarkArts]

Hello

I'm going to be trying for my first baby in twelve months' time and for various reasons I would like a girl (I'd be happy with a boy too.)

Are there any particular ways I can maximise my chances of having a daughter?

Many thanks

I would start from the idea that it is 50% chance and then you won't be disappointed.

If there was a method people would be using it-they are largely old wives tales.

Exoticfruits - yep, I realise that. I would not be disappointed at all with whatever I got but I have fairly unique circumstances that I feel would be better for a girl than for a boy.

From what I have read, though, it seems the closer you are to ovulation the more likely a boy is.

I now need to work out when I ovulate!

There is a way to only boost your chances, but it's only by a very small amount so it's not remotely guaranteed.

However, I have read about research which suggests that sperm carrying the Y chromosome (which produces a boy) is usually faster-swimming but shorter-lived, whereas sperm carrying the X chromosome (which gives you a girl) is slower but more resilient and lasts a bit longer.

If this is true (and I don't think it's fully proven yet) then if you have a very regular cycle and use an ovulation kit to pinpoint when you are going to ovulate, you can boost your chances of getting a girl by having sex 24-36 before you expect to ovulate, and then not having sex again till a week or so after ovulation (by which time the egg will have died). This would mean that by the time the egg was released most of the Y sperm will have perished so there is a better chance that the first sperm the egg meets will be an X.

Actually testing this scientifically would probably be too difficult for a research scientist to initiate, because you would first need a significant test-group of "women who want to conceive a girl and have very regular periods" and I'm not sure how easy it would be to find them. We could do it on mumsnet though? Who would like to sign up for a TTCAG thread - a couple of years from now we could find out whether it worked?

umm you get what you get!

technically boy sperm swim faster and so can get to the egg quicker, but they die sooner, so if you have sex when you are about to ovulte or when you have ovulated you are a teeny bit more likley to get a boy.

girl sperm swim slower but live longer, so if you have sex a few days before you ovulate then the male sperm will have died and then the female sperm that live longer but swim slower willl get to the egg.

but basically its just a 50/50 chance you can try to influence it but i dont think there is anything that has any massive success rate at making a difference.

what unique circumstance mean a girl would be better?! a baby is a baby, i cant see how any circumstances would be better for one or the other?

I used the Shettles method for DS after two DDs, Sex on day of ovulation, Got my boy!

Its an interesting read even if you don't try any of the stuff it comes out with.

Thank you Lady :)

5madthings I am having the baby as a single parent using donated sperm and feel the circumstances in which I would be raising the child (as a single lady) would perhaps be more suited to a girl. My house isn't very large - although it is 3 bedrooms it is quite a cramped terrace and thinking forward to teenage years, if indeed we are still there, I think a girl living on top of her mother would be preferable to the child than a son!

It isn't of huge importance. I did say in my opening post that I would be quite happy with a boy.

I have ordered a couple of books from Amazon - I'm going to have to get to grips with my cycle as at the moment I know nothing my period turns up, and then before I know it, there it is again!

ermm plenty of single parents have boys! even ones living in a small house.

i am not single but have 4 boys and one girl, in a 3 bed house, its fine. and honestly there inst a difference other than the obvious between boys and girls they are both just babies and then children that need your love and care.

as long as you are happy with what you get then great, but please dont make an issue of gender, it really wont make a difference!

I watched a program a little while ago about conception and how the body holds onto the sperm and 'puts it to sleep' as such until ovulation then a little shock wakes up the chosen sperm, I wonder how this affects the gender selection based on faster swimmers if this is true?

I only caught the program 3/4 in so couldn't say where they based it from or whether it's recent studies or not! X

5madthings with respect, I don't think I have - I did say in my very first post I'd be happy with either but would like to try for a girl :)

snickers it's interesting isn't it? I've heard a variety of suggestions, one seems to be very much that the man can have a tendency to "throw" one sex or the other. My aunt is my Dad's sister: her husband has 2 brothers, they had two sons and both sons each have one son :) They seem to be boy heavy! Since I'm not actually biologically related there though I doubt that will apply to me.

I'll need to find a donor who throws girls

Throw girls hehe

My dh male family history shows they always have a boy first then all girls (this went back generations) until my inlaws had a girl first then dh and another girl lol

I don't think there's a cert way of trying to influence the gender but it can't hurt to try! xxx

Op did say she didn't mind either way and I think alot of ppl whether they admit it or not have a preference towards a particular sex (note I said alot of ppl no everyone). Having a preference does not mean op will not love a son and once baby is born she will be so love with baby it'll make no difference, but theres nothing wrong in "trying" for a particular sex. Op good luck.

Yes, we did this time, and have successfully conceived our girl. It might be coincidence, but given there have been no girls on DHs side of the family for at least 4 generations, I am inclined to think what we did worked. If you want, pm me and I can give you the list of what we did. We didn't use timing, we did diet and supplements.

Let's assume there are an exact amount of sperm - divided in half for X and half for Y.

Then, statistically, you can expect a 20% chance of conception on each cycle.

That means if you have a sex at specific times of your cycle (NO idea when you will actually drop the egg - which is different to the LH spike and could be anytime over the course of a week), you reduce your chance of conception during any one cycle to 10%.

The easiest is to just google "Chinese gender chart" and have sex on the month corresponding to that

Bunty - that would be fabulous. Thank you! :)

Kicktheguru - hehe, no sex around here! but yes I know what you mean! Thanks.

Out of interest sake, could you send to me too, Bunty? :)

Can't pm either of you, you don't have it set up! If you set it up and pm me, I'll happily pass it along :)

Have done so - thank you!