Showing posts with label gender. Show all posts
Showing posts with label gender. Show all posts

Friday, January 25, 2008

I want a boy... no, a girl ...

3 comments
A mong the zillion predictable questions you'll be asked when you're pregnant ("When is it due.. any morning sickness? ... how do you feel?")

- you will surely encounter the "So what do you want, a boy or a girl?" question. Many people don't want to know. Many people point out that what they prefer doesn't make an iota of difference.

Some couples, though, do prefer one gender to the other, Maybe they hope to have a boy to carry on the family name or business. Some may think a girl is easier or more fun. Other couples may already have two or three boys, and want a girl for a change, or vice versa.

Today, scientific advancements make it possible for couples (those who can afford the service, anyway) to actually choose the sex of their child. For example, the MicroSort system at the Genetics and IVF Institute in Virginia can apparently distinguish between sperm carrying the X-chromosome (for a girl) from a sperm loaded with the Y-chromosome (for a boy) by the fact that the former has 2.8 percent more DNA and is substantially larger than the Y-chromosome.

But for those who
(a) can't make use of Microsort
(b) plan to conceive the normal way,
if you want a boy or a girl, you'll have to rely on much less scientific methods and old wives' tales.
Such as:

To conceive a boy:
The man should wear loose underwear or boxers to increase overall fertility and give the weaker Y-sperms a more 'promising' environment over the Xs; Men should eat more meat, especially red meat, The woman should lie back after having sex; The woman should give in to her husband's seduction.

To conceive a girl:
Have sex in the missionary position; The wife should do the seducing; Both spouses need to cat lots of fish and veggies; Conceive in the afternoon on even days of the month.

But is there anything more 'scientific' on conceiving a boy or a girl?

Sperm strength
One theory is that the sperm with the Y-chromosome (that will produce a baby boy) swim faster and do better in a more alkaline environment, while sperm with the Xchromosome moves more slowly and do better in a more acidic environment.

So tracking when you are more acidic or alkaline, and tailoring your love-making sessions to these periods, may help you.

We got similar suggestions from Dr Chang Ton Choong, an obstetrician and gynaecologist in private practice.

For a girl: Try to have intercourse two to three days before ovulation because the Ychromosome-carrying sperm are not as resilient as the X-carrying ones, and will perish faster. Try to avoid an orgasm, as that increases the alkalinity of the vagina, which enhances the performance of the Y-chromosome sperm. (To increase acidity, Dr Chang suggests using a vinegar douche.) Said Dr Chang: "Some studies show that the position of intercourse should be face to face, as the penetration is shallow and the Y sperms are less likely to survive."

For a boy: Try to have intercourse as close to the time of ovulation as possible. Female orgasm is encouraged and should preferably occur before the male orgasm. This increases the alkalinity of the vagina. (You may also want to use a baking soda douche.) Some studies have also shown that depositing Y-chromosome sperm nearest the cervix enhances their survival.

Can it work?
Dr Christine Yap, an obstetrician and gynaecologist at the Singapore General Hospital and at its Centre For Assisted Reproduction (CARE), said that there is no proof that the Y-chromosome sperm is stronger than the X-chromosome sperm or vice-versa.

A New England study found no relationship between the timing of intercourse and the baby's sex. Also, overplanning your sex life can be stressful and reduce the chances of conception altogether.

She added: "What we are trying to figure out is whether any conditions increase the proportion of X or Y sperm hanging on to the rim of that egg, so the chances of an X or a Y penetrating are higher. But even then, the most willful sperm wins. Nothing much can determine what one single sperm among millions will do."

Health is important, gender isn't
Agreed Sandra Teo, 33, who is expecting her first child later this year: "My husband and I would rather just leave it to God, or chance or whatever, to decide for us. So we have no expectations, as long as we know it's a healthy baby, we're happy."

Worst of all, because you think you will get a girl and buy all manner of girly clothes and toys, you may feel disappointed to have a boy.

Stresed Dr Chang: "There are certainly no guarantees that the sex of the baby will be what you desire, even if you employ all of the above methods. You should aim to have a healthy pregnancy and a healthy child, regardless of the sex of the child."

Can you guess by looking?
The other side of the "boy or girl" question is, of course when you're already pregnant and someone tells you 'oh, I can tell you're
carrying a boy because you're..'

Mrs Jongkol Sim, 31, then four months pregnant, was 80 percent sure it was a boy. Why? She said: I had no inclination to put on makeup whenever I went out and the baby was kicking quite actively even when he was just four months. And whenever we went shopping, I would subconsciously look at baby boy's apparel and toys. My husband even bought a football jersey on impulse! We both agreed it was a boy."

Josephine Phua's mother-in-law, though, knew that Josephine was carrying a girl because "her stomach was very round'. Other old wives' tales on the difference between boys and girls in the womb are numerous and often contradictory.

A more active foetus means a boy.
An unusually large abdomen indicates a girl.
Some say that if a scan doesn't reveal the child's genitals it's a girl's sign of shyness
A baby carried 'high' is a boy (though we also found those who said that a baby carried high is a girl!"

A girl takes away your beauty and makes you look haggard.
Girls cause morning sickness etc.

One reason for SEX-SORTING (such as what the Microsort machine in the US can do) is to help prevent the transmission of sex-linked hereditary diseases. However, one report noted that such sex-sorting might cause genetic damage, as the procedure involves tagging chromosomes with something called a fluourochrome. MicroSort is not available in Singapore. Another similar method, called, Flow cytometry, can sort cells in the laboratory for biological experiments, but cannot be used by parents to select their baby's sex. If a patient has concerns about serious sex-linked conditions such as haemophilia, tests such as Chorionic Villus Sampling can be done in the 10th week of pregnancy. It determines the sex of your child and the risk of the disease.

Source: Today's Parents, Aug 2001, p20
 

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