FACT or MYTH - that some women can only carry boys or girls

[Gateau]

I have had three mcs, two of them recent and consecutive.
Some people have told me that I may only be able to carry boys (I have a 21 month old DS) and when I get pg with a girl my body rejects her.
Is there any truth in this?

BUMP

It's certainly what people say about someone I know who has three beautiful healthy boys but miscarried a lot in between successful pregnancies.

I'd be interested to know if it's a pile of poo.

Very sorry about your miscarriages Gateau .

I have no idea if its true but my mom is convinced she cant carry boys

I have no idea - never heard of this and sounds like old wives tale.

It is a well-known medical fact that boy babies are more fragile than girl babies. When my dd was diagnosed with a heart condition in utero, the fact that she was a girl counted in her favour and she was regarded as 'stronger'and more robust.

Perhaps boy babies are more likely to be miscarried because the mother's body is more likely to reject as foreign.

Also, the y-chromosome is carried in the sperm. So the male's contribution determines the gender. I have never heard of the female womb determining the survival by gender of a foetus.

Sorry about your mcs.

My MIL and her sister both think this - her sister has 4 boys and MIL has 2. The entire generation is boys!

Assuming your mother only had children by the same man, it is more likely that the father tended to produce sperm with double-x chromosome.

If anything, it's more likely to be the otherway round as boys only have one copy of anything on the X chromosome, so are affected by a larger range of chromosomal problems.

However I don't think that there is any evidence (from when I had recurrent miscarriages and read everything I could get my hands on about mc)to show that a particular woman without any known issue will mc one gender or another.

cmotdibbler, did you get pg after your recurrent mcs?
If so, did you do anything different to sustain the pregnancy?
I REALLY eant to have another DC but am so worried that even if I do, I can't not sustain it. Am so scared of having another mc.

Yep - I got lucky eventually. I took low dose aspirin as although the standard clotting tests were normal, I have some clinical features that might point to some sort of clotting problem. My consultant and GP were happy with this approach, and I also took fish oil for the same reason.

DS will be an only though, as I can't imagine doing it all again.

I'm so glad you got your DS.
I'm not pg but do you know if it would be a good idea for me to start taking low dose asprin now, as a kind of pre-emptive measure for IF I do get pg?

It depends really - I chose to take it continuously, and didn't have any risk factors like stomach ulcers etc. You could take it from just after ovulation onwards too, or as soon as you get a BFP

Gateau I had 2 boys then a m/c. My mil said that I probably couldn't carry girls. I then had a girl followed by another boy. I was then convinced that my girl was a fluke especially as I then had 2 consecutive m/c.
Then a girl,m/c,girl,girl,girl,m/c,m/c,girl,m/c,m/c.

Had I not gone on to have any further pgs after my 3rd boy, I would have continued to think that my first girl was a fluke and that the first m/c was probably a girl.

So, I don't know whether it is true or not for some women but it probably looks that way for some even though it's not.

Sorry to hear of your m/cs. It can be a very difficult time.
One good thing is that at least you can conceive, hopefully one will stick for you soon.

Actually, my sister has 8 children, 7 girls, and 1 boy. The first time she tried to have a child, it was a miscarriage. He was a boy. She tried again three times, all three miscarriages, all three boys. So she had four baby boy miscarriages. She tried again and then she gave birth to her first baby girl. She had another child and successfully gave birth to a girl again. Then she was pregnant with twins. There were some complications but they were both born alive. The girl was perfectly healthy while the boy had to be placed in NICU. The boy made it thought it all but he was in the NICU for months. She had yet another baby girl after that, perfectly healthy. She got pregnant again with a boy and had a miscarriage. She had another healthy baby girl, another boy miscarriage, and another healthy baby girl.

She had 6 baby boy miscarriages. The doctor said that with her twins, the boy only made it because of the twin being there with him something like that. I''ll make a timeline about her journey to make it more understandable. Anyways, they're the cutest family but i just don't think her body can carry a single baby boy.

1- male miscarriage
2- male miscarriage
3- male miscarriage
4- male miscarriage
5- healthy baby girl
6- healthy baby girl
7- healthy baby girl, baby boy spent months in NICU
8- healthy baby girl
9- male miscarriage
10- healthy baby girl
11- male miscarriage
12- healthy baby girl