Can you influence the sex of the baby?
The important thing is that the baby is healthy. But let's face it, some parents secretly dream of having a boy or a girl. However, can they really influence the sex of the unborn baby?
Can you influence the sex of the baby?
The important thing is that the baby is healthy. But let's face it, some parents secretly dream of having a boy or a girl. However, can they really influence the sex of the unborn baby?
Is it possible to influence the sex of your baby?
The only theory with a scientific basis is that having sex very soon after ovulation would favor the conception of a boy. This proposal is based on the assumption that sperm carrying an X chromosome have different characteristics than those carrying a Y. Some laboratory techniques allow the two types of sperm to be separated by a filter before insemination to tip the balance in one direction or the other.
However, some studies have concluded that X and Y sperm are not visibly different from each other and that Y chromosomes do not swim faster. It would still be possible for one to be more resistant than the other. The longer you wait in the cycle, the thicker the egg shell becomes and the more permeable it is to X spermatozoa. That's where the idea comes from that having intercourse very early in the cycle could tip the balance.
This theory, however, is far from proven. While some studies in the 1960s supported this idea, another study published in 1995 concluded that the timing of intercourse relative to ovulation did not influence the sex of the baby.
It is possible to choose the sex of your baby with a technique called PGD.
Once a girl, always a girl?
What happens when a couple already has two children of the same sex and tries to have a third? Of course, it could simply be a matter of chance and the chance of having a boy or a girl would still be 1 in 2.
However, it is well known that some families have only girls or only boys. It is true that when you have two of the same sex, it increases the chances of having a third.
Researchers are not yet sure how to explain this phenomenon. There are, however, some clues. For example, a study published in 2009 suggested that some men had a gene that favored the production of sperm with a Y chromosome. Another 2015 study found that women with certain characteristics were less likely to have boys.
So parents with children all of the same sex have very little control over the sex of their next child, besides screening and preimplantation diagnosis. However, if they are really lucky, they can have up to 7 girls or 7 boys. In fact, according to Belgian tradition, this feat will earn their child the honor of having the king as godfather.
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