gender specific conception

[barbarhow]

In an offshoot of the TTC thread-DH and I will be TTC sometime late spring or early summer. We would love to have a girl if possible. I am curious if anyone has had success with trying to influence the sex of your baby and if so (or not) what you did. TIA
Barbara-mom to Jack 3/27/03

[MelissaTC]

We read the book called "Choosing the Sex of Your Baby". We followed the advice for a boy and that is what we have =) There is some interesting information in there and we took it with a grain of salt. I think it is just coincidence that it worked but DH is convinced otherwise...

[bluej]

I read this same book in hopes of a boy. We got a boy, but honestly I don't know if it really helped.

[nathansmom]

Probably won't help you much but the RE office at a major teaching hospital can spin the sperm and give you odds of 80% for the gender of your choice. When we did IVF there were some couples their just to do IUI's with sperm set to try to get a specific gender. I think they paid like $400 for the services. Just a thought, I'm not looking to start a war.

[MartiesMom2B]

I actually used to work at the clinic that developed this technology - it's called Microsort. It actually works better to sort out the sperm of a girl than a boy.


Sonia
Proud Mommy to Martie 4/6/03

[Melanie]

I'd also recommend that book. Dh learned about the differences between the x & y sperm in his college bio class, and this book seems to follow the same things he learned plus give you more info.

[Rachels]

Toni Weschler's book also talks about this. I didn't plan for one gender or another, but knew I was likely to have a girl from looking at my charts from the month I conceived.

-Rachel
Mom to Abigail Rose
5/18/02

[deborah_r]

I met a woman a few weeks ago who is going to try this to get a girl. It has to do with sorting the sperm by weight, I think the "girl" sperm weighs more.

[lisams]

Same thing here! In TCOYF, she says that the male sperm are lighter and fast, but also more fragile and that the girl sperm are heavier and slower but hang around longer. So if you want a boy, try to time it so that it is closest to ovulation. We had sex a day before I ovulated, and had a girl - which goes with this theory since most of the fast fragile boy sperm were probably dead by the time the egg was released.

Not sure about how medically correct this theory is, but it makes sense to me. We weren't planning or trying for a certain gender, but it seemed to be correct for us too after looking at my chart.

Lisa

[parkersmama]

Well, I'm *not* a walking advertisement for getting the baby's sex right but here's our story...

I have wanted a girl all 3 times! Not that I didn't want a boy but I wanted to be sure to get a girl. :) So, with Parker we didn't do anything special except that I was desperate to get pregnant after more than a year of trying and we used ovulation predictor kits to make sure that we "hit" on the ovulation. So, boy.

With Wesley I was now *desperate* to have a girl (even though we planned on 3 kids, I thought it'd be better to get a girl so we weren't waiting til our last shot!). So, I read How to Choose the Sex of Your Baby by Landrum Shettles. I really enjoyed the book and learned a lot about ovulation and conception but that attempt at getting a girl resulted in Wesley (who is beyond 100% boy which can be noted by his longstanding obsession with his penis!!).

So, with Amy Grace I pretty much started praying from about an hour after Wesley's birth (sad, I know) that we'd get a girl the next time. I was determined to not freak out over it and use the Shettles method again due to our lack of success with it the first time. Then I read in a pregnancy magazine some totally non-medical advice (from a model, nonetheless) that supposedly having high levels of calcium and magnesium in your system favored girl conceptions. So, I ate *lots* of fortified cereals, took supplements (I figured it couldn't hurt), and prayed an awful lot. :) I don't know what made it happen, but we got our girl and I couldn't be happier! Of course, I was totally okay with having another boy or we'd have stopped with Wesley but in my heart of hearts, I'm really glad to have an opportunity to raise both sexes and experience motherhood from both perspectives.

Sorry this got so long!! I guess it's all to say that from my point of view, I'm not sure that any of the methods (other than the spinning & IUI thing) work with much certainty. They are fun to try but don't be too disappointed if they don't give the results you're hoping for. Despite the fact that our family turned out differently that I'd have planned it, I wouldn't change a thing! :)

[parkersmama]

That's pretty much the same theory that Shettles uses in his book.

[bluej]

"who is beyond 100% boy which can be noted by his longstanding obsession with his penis"

LOL! Oh that is SO TRUE! I'm sure all of the mom's of yet-to-be-obsessed boys cringed when they read that and thought 'oh not my boy!' But there's no getting around it. From the moment they discover it until they die they are obsessed w/ it!

[parkersmama]

LOL! That's one thing that I'm always relieved to find out isn't just us!!! Parker has a mild/normal obsession but Wesley is *constantly* adjusting, fiddling, fondling, holding, fixing, whatever his penis! Last night at the YMCA basketball thing Parker is doing, I must have told him *at least* 10 times to get his hand out of his pants! ARgh. The sweatpants he was wearing make the access too easy...those may get retired. :) And it's not like I'm strict about it at home. We try to remind him and tell him it's okay but "keep it in private", etc, but I've learned to live with it at home for the most part. :) Still working on the public thing, though.

[pritchettzoo]

We were just trying to get pregnant with a baby of some sort, but I was charting my temps because of a previous miscarriage (my cycles were all out of whack...something like 59 days) so I was pretty positive about when I ovulated. I ovulated I believe 3 days after we last had sex (thanks to law school exams) and I was sure that we'd missed the window of opportunity and was so, so broken hearted. Well, when my temps stayed high, I took the test and VOILA--Gracie!

P.S. I really wanted a girl. I *knew* I was going to have three big, hairy boys. Who were obsessed with their penises. :P

Anna
Mama to Gracie (9/16/03)

[starrynight]

ROFL sorry Denise to giggle but that just described Alex so much! I swear I have Al Bundy for a son, he watches tv with that hand of his in his waistband geesh. I don't mind him doing it but at the same time I am trying to teach him to do it in privacy not in front of everyone! He is obsessed with it, I thought he was the only one that literally never left it alone.

Okay as for the specific gender thing, I have read that position has a bit to do with it. If you want a boy try a position that would get the sperm closer to the cervix and also you want it to be on or very close to ovulation day. With a girl you want it a day or so before ovulation and in a position a bit further away from the cervix, this is so that not only have the male sperm died off but also that in the event you are a bit off on when O occured since you aren't as close to the cervix there is some chance the female sperm can still make it. Now that I think back to the hows and whens the position thing worked in my experience.

[parkersmama]

What I want to know is where the "big hairy" part comes from!? Your dh isn't what I'd describe as "big hairy"! LOL! You crack me up!

[pritchettzoo]

Hairy from DH and big from me, I guess. I thought they'd be the stereotypical "dumb" linebacker type boys (think the movie Heathers) with whom I'd never be able to carry on a conversation.

Poor Gracie got the hairy part. I'm seriously concerned that we're going to have to wax the unibrow before preschool! And I really hope the furry patch around her tailbone goes away. DH doesn't--he thinks it might be some sort of freaky genetic chastity belt.

Anna
Mama to Gracie (9/16/03)

[starrynight]

In reguards to the hairy part, it usually goes away. Daria was the hairest of all my kids when she was born, it was the worst near her tailbone, it has since fallen out. She still is hairy on her arms and has a touch of a unibrow but it's thining out. There is hope! :)

[zuzu]

I am relieved to hear this. Sarah got her Daddy's slight unibrow, tailbone hair patch ("Tony Danza Patch" we call it for some reason) and long toes. At least we can now hope the two hair issues will resolve themselves!

melissa
mom to sarah, 5.10.03

[cinrein]

LOL at the "freaky genetic chastity belt"!

Cindy and Anna 2/11/03

[jesseandgrace]

Hi. Both my kids - one girl and one boy - are the sex the Chinese Calendar said they would be, I'm sure it is just a coincidence. I also used the book on picking the sex. I had a boy and boys run big time in my husbands family - and as you know it is always the male that determines the sex - I didn't really care if I had a boy or girl but figured it would be nice to have one of both. The results were the girl. Maybe there is something to that book..

Jennifer

[Elilly]

I work in a hospital and often have to draw blood when the primary staff can't get anything. It's amazing to me that there seem to be way more girl "suprises" than boys. I wonder if it is b/c people think that they are "safe" several days before ovulation?

[barbarhow]

Thanks for a ll the input and the laughs too! DS loves his Mr. padiddlehopper-has his hand on it every chance he gets. So funny.
I, too, would love the opportunity to mother a little girl-but would not be devastated if I had another boy. It was funny-I thought that DS was going to be a girl and had thought of him as a her almost the entire pregnancy. I was shocked when he was born. Couldn't believe it. It took a day or two to adjust to the fact that she was a he and I have never looked back. He has been a dream. So either way is wonderful-but I would love a girl. I think I'll check out some of the books from the library. Thanks.