Explaining Baby Gender Selection
If you are planning of getting pregnant soon, you might want to consider several techniques on baby gender selection. These techniques can help you determine the gender of your baby. Some couples look forward to having a baby girl while some wishes for a boy. If you have a favored gender, it is natural for you to increase the odds of having a child of your favored sex.
To date, couples may now be able to choose their desired gender through baby gender selection. This is a technique which has been receiving too much attention as well as controversies for their ethical and moral implications. In this article, we will share with you basic information and tips that you need to know about baby gender selection.
What is gender selection? This is the term coined to the method of increasing one’s chances of having a child of a certain sex. Couples are now open to using fertility treatment techniques to increase the odds of conceiving either a boy or a girl. To have a boy for instance, the woman’s egg is fertilized with a man’s sperm. Eggs carry X chromosomes while a sperm can carry either an X or a Y chromosome. If a Y chromosome fertilizes with an egg, you will have a boy. If an X-bearing chromosome unites with an egg, then you will have a girl.
You may wonder: why do couples want to choose the gender of their child? There are many reasons why couples use gender selection techniques. Some of the reasons have something to deal with the social, economical and cultural benefits of having either a boy or a girl. The reasons include the following:
l Genetic disease prevention – There are couples who want a certain gender choice in order to prevent certain genetic disorders from being passed on. Hemophilia, for instance, is a disease which occurs only in boys. If hemophilia is part of the family history then some couples hope for a girl instead of a boy.
l Family rebuilding – Some parents who lost a child wish to rebuild the family again by having a child of the same gender. The couples would seek out baby gender selection methods and choose one which will fit their needs and lifestyle best.
l Balancing – Another common reason why couples favor a certain gender is family balancing. They want to balance the number of girls and boys and so they choose a certain type of sex.
For some, gender selection is an easy option. To some; however, concerns on ethics, legal and morality become a huge issue. All these issues can make it difficult for couples to decide on the type of treatment to choose, the clinic to pick and the like. Opponents of gender selection techniques, most of whom with the religious side, stand that these procedures are ethically and morally against the Christian dogma.
If you are 100% sure of pursuing any of these baby gender selection techniques, confirm baby gender using a medical process like a baby gender ultrasound to lessen the flaws of inaccuracy.
Baby Making Myths: The Truth About Sex Selection
Gender Selection Procedure
If you curious about gender selection procedure, you are at the right place. Clinical gender selection consist of IVF (In Vitro Fertilization) with PGD (Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis). In Vitro Fertilization involves the retrieval and implantation of eggs in the women. Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis is the screening and selection of sperm cells and eggs. Process of PGD is to select the gender and to ensure the cells will not carry any genetic diseases.
When a couple goes to a respective clinic for gender selection, the doctor will first retreive eggs from the woman and sperm cells from the man. Both the eggs and sperms cells will then undergo the PGD screening and selection process. From then on, the selected sperm cell is inserted into an egg and transferred to the women’s uterus. This procedure can take a fews day to weeks and can be very costly.
Many couples have benefited from gender selection because they get to choose the gender of their baby and there’s no worries regarding the baby’s health as genetic inherited diseases are eliminated.
Besides clinical gender selection procedure, you should also consider home gender selection. Couples who are not able to afford clinical gender selection would often resort to home gender selection procedure. It involves timing of conception, dieting and sexual position to increase the chances of having a baby boy or baby girl.
Gender Selection Methods
There are basically 4 gender selection methods. The methods varies in price and effectiveness. Below is a brief summary of the 4 gender selection methods.
The Gradient Method
This is where the sperms in transferred in a centrifuge and spun at high speeds. The spinning action will then seperate X-Chromosome (girl) bearing sperm from Y-Chromosome (boy) bearing sperm. The separation is possible because X-Chromosome bearing sperm is denser compared to Y-Chromosome bearing sperm. The separated sperms can then be used for gender selection.
Microsort
This is a process by which the type of sperm is identified on a special dye. X-Chromosome bearing sperm and Y-Chromosome bearing sperm can be easily differentiated by this procedure because X-Chromosome bearing sperm absorbs more dye. Differentiated sperms can then be use for gender selection.
PDG (Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis)
This is a complicating procedure in which the DNA of the embryos are analyzed in order to determine their sex and health. With the gender determined during the analysis process, couples can easily select the chosen embryo containing their desired sex.
The Shettles Method
The shettles method is a natural way of gender selection. Unlike the above 3 gender selection methods, the shettles method can be done at home without the help of doctors and specialists. According to
Shettles, it is said that….
To have a baby boy,
• Do not have sex 4-5 days before ovulation
• Have sex on the day of ovulation
• Douche before intercourse
• Woman must have multiple orgasms before sperm is ejaculated
• Ideal sex position is Doggy Style
To have a baby girl,
• Have intercourse a few days before ovulation
• Woman is recommended not to have orgasm
• Ideal sex position is Missionary Style
Basics of Gender Selection And What You Should Know
There is no need for expensive clinical gender selection when it comes to choosing the gender of the baby you desired. There are a few things you can do at home to greatly influence the odds of you having either a baby boy or a baby girl. In this article, you will come across some very good gender selection
tips that will help you choose your baby’s gender.
What determines the gender of your baby?
If X-chromosome bearing sperm reaches the fertile egg first, you will have a baby girl.
If Y-chromosome bearing sperm reaches the fertile egg first, you will have a baby boy.
What are characteristics of X-chromosome sperm and Y-chromosome sperm?
X-chromosome are bigger and stronger but slower.
Y-chromosome are faster but smaller and weaker. Y-chromosome bearing sperms are also sensitive to heat and acidity.
Couples can determine which type of sperm will reach the fertile egg first by knowing the time of ovulation. Time of ovulation is a period when the egg in the woman is most fertile. Find out the day of ovulation can be as easy as using an online ovulation calculator.
For a baby boy, intercourse should be done on the day of ovulation.
For a baby girl, intercourse should be done a few days before ovulation.
You can easily assist Y-chromosome (boy) bearing sperm to reach the fertile egg first by performing the correct sexual position. Any deep penetration sex position will help Y-chromosome sperms by reducing the distance it needs to swim. Let’s not forget that the sperm is exposed to acidic environment. To balance the acidity level in the reproductive tract, douching is encourage before intercourse.
For X-chromosome (girl) bearing to reach the fertile egg first, the ideal positions would be shallow penetrations. This will favor X-chromosome bearing sperm because sperms will have to swim a longer distances and only X-chromosome bearing sperms have the stamina to do so.