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Pregnancy

Talk about every stage of pregnancy, from early symptoms to preparing for birth.

Original poster

Choosing the baby's sex - does anything work?!

26 replies

karma · 10/03/2006 14:48

We have two gorgeous little boys and want to try for another baby later this year. Although another boy would be great, we would really love a daughter, although obviously we would be extremely grateful for having another healthy baby of either sex.
Has anyone got any experience of increasing the chances of one sex over the other? In my experience those Chinese charts are a bit hit and miss!

OP posts:
TuttiFrutti · 10/03/2006 15:09

Karma, I'm in a very similar position: one ds aged 10 mths and want to try to get pregnant again later this year, and both dh and I would love a daughter. I'd be really interested to hear anyone's advice on how to tip the odds in favour of conceiving a girl. I think you have to time sex to be just before ovulation - can anyone confirm this?

You're right about the Chinese charts - total rubbish. They predicted my ds would be a dd!

wools · 10/03/2006 15:14

Don't quote me on this but I think that female sperm take longer to swim to the egg than male sperm so ideally would need to bd maybe 2 days before egg is released if you want a dd. If you bd on the day of ovulation it's likely that a male sperm will get there first. It might be an idea to post on conception thread as well as I'm sure lots of the ladies over there are experts on this.

HappyMumof2 · 10/03/2006 16:06

the main thing is timing ime. Ds was concieved on the day (or after) ovulation, dd was 3-4 days before. So I would advise avoiding sex on the day of ovulation and possibly the day before too.

I also heard that if you want a girl, you shouldn't orgasm, but don't know how true this is!

cupcakes · 10/03/2006 16:12

\link{http://www.timesonline.co.uk/newspaper/0,,176-2070169,00.html\here} is an article from this week's Sunday Times. It's not about how to try and select gender but has a theory that more 'aggressive' women tend to have boys...

Rhubarb · 10/03/2006 16:13

If there was a foolproof way of determining the baby's sex it would be all over the news by now. There isn't even any way you can help the odds. It's like saying that if you buy a lottery ticket on a certain day you'll be more likely to win. It all depends on your dh and his family. If his family is full of boys, then chances are you'll have boys. It's genetic, from male to male.

wools · 10/03/2006 16:25

That's interesting Rhubarb what you say about being genetic - male to male. I had no idea - I thought it was fifty per cent chance from both partners.

blueteddy · 10/03/2006 16:36

I know someone who bought a book on choosing the sex of your baby, before conceiving her second child, as she wanted to try for a girl.
She followed this book religiously & had a boy!
She has since had 2 more boys!!
I think it is all down to chance.

Original poster
karma · 11/03/2006 16:14

Thanks for all those messages- it's all very interesting, especially the paper article about strong women having sons. I would class myself as being pretty strong, and yep, I have two boys!! I guess we will have to wait and see!

OP posts:
spidermama · 11/03/2006 16:16

I tried the theory about female sperm swimming for longer but I ended up with my third boy in a row.

(Don't worry, don't worry, I love him etc etc etc)

helsi · 11/03/2006 16:19

you get what you are given apparently. therefore I would just have another babay because I wanted a child - not because what I would get or not get depending on the odds.

madmarchhare · 11/03/2006 16:25

Yes, have sex on a monday or a thursday between one and two oclock.

fuzzywuzzy · 11/03/2006 16:30

Rhubarb that theory is really interesting.
A guy I work with has only brothers (I think there are six of them), all brothers have only girls. He reckons it's natures way of balancing out.

Original poster
karma · 11/03/2006 16:31

Ha Ha, point taken madmarchhare!!

Yes Helsi, we want another child whatever, and would be grateful for either a boy or girl. Just wondered if anyone had any experience in this matter that was all.

OP posts:
chipmonkey · 11/03/2006 17:09

karma, we tried all the theories, bought the book, TWO books in fact, LOL and ended up with ds3. He's very cute though, if a bit stroppy!

BonyM · 11/03/2006 17:10

karma - I've posted on your other thread - have a book which I'll happily send you - worked for us!

chipmonkey · 11/03/2006 17:11

LOL, BoneyM, if its Hazel's book that's the one I followed religiously!

BonyM · 11/03/2006 17:12

No - Dr Shettles - I think he slates Hazel's methods iirc! Grin

collision · 11/03/2006 17:13

It is all a load of rubbish and of course you cant choose the sex of a baby. Friend of mine has just had twin boys giving her a total of 6 boys! she did everything for a daughter....really did but nope!

You get what you are given! Wink

chipmonkey · 11/03/2006 17:17

No, Dr Shettles and Hazel sing from the same hymn sheet (or "her" sheet if thats what you're going for!Grin) He slags off Elizabeth Whelen. Or did. Dr Shettles is dead now.

chipmonkey · 11/03/2006 17:19

I really think that the reasons these "methods" get perpetuated is that they do work for approximately 50% of the people that try them. They tell all their friends while the rest of us stay quiet.

BonyM · 11/03/2006 17:20

Oh yes - remember now! I'm also fully prepared to acknowledge that we had a 50/50 chance of getting a girl anyway!

The timing theory does seem to make sense though. Both my dds were conceived a few days before ovulation, and my friend has 2 ds's who were conceived right at the time of ovulation. Could just be coincidence I guess, but no harm in trying to stack the odds!

paddyclamp · 12/03/2006 21:02

The timing theory worked for me! DS was conceived on the day of ovulation and DD was conceived 2 days before ovulation. Think it's based on the male sperm being a faster swimmer but the female sperm living longer. But i think you have to be very confident about when ovulation takes place which isn't always easy. Obviously it's not foolproof by any means but it doesn't hurt to give nature a helping hand Smile

chipmonkey · 13/03/2006 21:15

I was very confident about when I ovulated, checked it with temp, CM AND persona! (God, I sound like a total nutcase!) I can say with absolute confidence that all my ds's were conceived well before ovulation, ds1 and ds2 were rhythm method accidents( Happy accidents, I might add!Smile) with ds3 we were actively trying the "girl" method.
In another thread like this, Cha suggested that your partner should ejaculate first without penetration and then as soon as he can manage afterwards to ejaculate inside you. This, I think follows the "low sperm count for a girl" theory.
At the end of the day, I'm really just thankful to have ds3. I bled all the way through that pregnancy, had placenta praevia and had an emergency C-Section at 32 weeks so am just thankful to have this healthy little boy, even if I can't put the frilly pink stuff on him!

teabelly · 15/03/2006 15:25

I googled and found a link under something like 'chosethesexofyourbaby' type thing and got connected to a canadian (I think) lady who will tell you based on your cycle when to bd for a girl and when to bd for a boy, based on the girl before ovulation timings (money back if it doesn't work). Just a bit of fun because you must want a child anyway, sex choice being a nice bonus. No idea if it worked as my estimate of my cycle was wrong and so we were just doing it willy nilly...got my dd tho so couldn't claim my money back! Wink

starlover · 15/03/2006 15:27

teabelly please tell me you're joking...?

well known scam... "pay me £5 and i'll tell you the sex of the baby/how to get the sex you want"

they give the same advice/answer every time, and of course get to pocket half the money