Ovulation sticks and gender

[insanelycheerful]

I read on here, or somewhere, that the time of doing the deed and therefore conception taking place can have an influence on gender. I seem to recall the gist being that if you'd used ovulation sticks and waited till you got a positive on there, then did the deed, you were more likely to have a boy. Whereas if you'd done the deed ahead of ovulation it was more likely to be a girl.

I am sure it's all old wives tales and not sure I understand the explanation behind the theory, but I was interested to know - if you used ovulation sticks and waited for a positive, what gender did you get (assuming you know!) We did this, and it has got me thinking I am having another boy. Which would of course be lovely, but I also kicked myself a little to think I may have influenced the gender by our approach, as I would also love a little girl!

Please do excuse the ramblings of a 24 week pregnant mum of 2 small boys!!

Why dont you find out the gender?

The theory is that the closer you DTD to ovulation, the more likely it is to be a boy as the boy sperm swim faster. But for a shorter time. They survive approx 24 hours, whereas girl sperm swim slower but live longer- up to 4 days.

I'm of the 'older mother' variety (38) so all my friends have been using Ovulation sticks for age reasons (ie we dont have time to pussyfoot around!). the last 7 babies- 6 boys, 1 girl. I'm having a boy in 3 weeks.

i'd love a girl next time (please god there will be a next time!) so will use the sticks but in a way that we DTD 2 days before ovulation instead of day of.. of course this means it'll take longer to conceive!!!!!!!!

I got the ovulation test and luckily caught a positive on it the day I bought it. conceived that day or the next, it's a boy

Chica - I actually don't want to know until he/she arrives, although I can't help all my wondering beforehand! It's almost like part of me wants to know now, but most of me wants to wait. DH definitely wants to wait and he really doesn't mind either way re gender.

Based on this theory, this baby should be a boy. I love the idea of 3 boys but part of me also yearns for a girl. I had no idea about timing of conception/ovulation affecting gender when we were TTC, but also didn't realise then how much I yearned for a girl! Perhaps best I didn't know and we will just get what we get....the main thing is he/she is healthy and arrives safely.

Would still be interested to know how timing of DTD around ovulation affected gender in other cases though

I DTD 4 days before ovulation and got a boy... Second time around on day of ovulation and got a girl!!

I used ovulation sticks and waited until I got the 'smiley face' on the digital ones ie ovulation. And it's a boy!

The day i got a postive on ovulation stick and it's boy xx

Ovulation sticks are approximate & tell you when you are about to ovulate (48 hour window). However the science is if the sperm get in before (24 hours) the exact ovulation day it could be a girl as the 'male' sperm reach quickly but also die sooner. If the sperm 'reach' on/after the exact ovulation then the male sperm is likely to fertilise the egg - resulting in a boy. But it's very difficult to know the 'exact' time of ovulation so it ends up being more 'retrospective' than 'predictive'.

I dtd 4 days before I ovulated, its a boy in two scans so far :)

We dtd the day before and the day after ovulation and will be finding out in three weeks. so by yiur reckoning it should be a boy.

Thanks for all the replies! I'm quite fascinated by this now I know about it and have had it explained to me so well!

I honestly can't help speculating as to whether this one is a boy or a girl! An old wives tale I know, but heartbeat so far has sounded (to me) like galloping horses, whereas my 2 boys definitely sounded like trains. At the 20 week scan I thought I saw 3 lines then saw boys bits. Am none the wiser really, and will just have to wait and see!!

Anyone else care to volunteer when they DTD relative to ovulation, and whether they got boy or girl?

We DTD several times around ovulation after using the clear blue predictor tests and temping, so not sure how I would know which session led to success, but it's a boy! Maybe I'd we'd just done it once in the lead up it would have been more likely to be a girl...?

I did this for my third as I already had two boys. I took a few months of testing to find out which day I was ovulating, then DTD I think a couple of days before. I got a book about it but I think it's out of print now. DD is 26 next month.

I am really intrigued by this

I used the superdrug ovulation prediction tests which were the same brand my friend used who recommended them to me.

I think they work differently to other brands and to me they are not so clear to use - the lines gets darker closer to ovulation but you're never that clear at what exact shade you are ovulating

I DTD as soon as I got any line as I had difficulty conceiving and just wanted to get a bfp which amazingly I did and am expecting a DD :)

For next time I would like to try this but wondered which brand of ovulation tests are much clearer to use??

Do the clearblue for example just give you a smiley face on the day of ovulation making it so much clearer to know when exactly you are ovulating?

ChicaMomma - which brand would you recommend that tells you exactly what day you are ovulating?

Any advice would be much appreciated as being so much older my time is very limited

sorry - I've just one more question - if I was to use the clearblue ovulation kits do I DTD as soon as I get the smiley face or wait till the second day of getting the smiley face??

As I understand it the clearblue gives you two days of smiley faces to pinpoint your closest two days to ovulation so would that mean you would need to wait till the second day of a smiley face?

Sorry if this sounds silly but it would really help to know exactly when would be the right time to time it correctly

Any other advice on this would be greatly appreciated - there was a very good thread recently on all this but I can't seem to find it so if anyone had the link that they could send to me would be so much appreciated

Many thanks in advance for any advice

We basically did this, DD was conceived before I ovulated, DS on ovulation day and this one was (we think) a few days before and is a girl. Isn't it just the Shettles method?

WhenHarry, i would also HIGHLY recommend using Preseed.. as older mothers, we generally have less cervical mucus, and the preseed really helps transport the sperm. This is TMI territory, but someone also told me to masturbate after DTD, as this also helps transport them.. between the sticks, the preseed and this trick, i got pregnant first month trying (on honeymoon) and i'm 38.. I also had OH (who is 50!) taking zinc and vit C for sperm mobility.. but i digress!

Insanely I used the clear blue sticks, DTD at peak ovulation and am carrying a boy..

We DTD just once in that month as DH was travelling. Day 16. Thought I was past ovulation but found myself pregnant. Then assumed it was a boy as we had DTD on/after ovulation at best. But absolutely thrilled to find out its a girl!!!! Obviously my 28-day on-time cycle has an ovulation mind of its own!!

If it helps, DD1 was conceived similarly - once DTD early in the cycle - after that DH was travelling.

I used ovulation sticks for all my pregnancies. This pregnancy I got the positive and I'm having a girl. My previous 2 miscarriaged pregnancies last year where I know the gender, one was a boy and one was girl. We only DTD when we got a positive on the POAS.

We DTD when we got a positive Ov test & have a little boy :)
I am watching this thread closely as i would love a lite girl also xx

thanks Chica - that's really helpful - I will try this
having read a lot about this it seems that mostly DTD around ovulation results in a boy but not always but its worth a try

Thanks for the replies, really interesting to read.

I now know it's called the Shettles method, thank you! You really do learn something new every day

It seems that there is more likelihood this baby is a boy, given that we DTD the day I got a positive on the clearblue ovulation sticks. This was as much by chance as anything though, as it was the first day of our holiday after a hectic week where we'd not had the chance!

That theory is wrong! There has been quite a lot of research done and they could not find the link between time of dtd and gender. Sorry!