It's an age-old question and one that still doesn't really have a definite answer, 'Is it possible to choose the sex of a baby?'

Many people argue no, but the jury is still out. Of course some people don't want to know the sex of their baby until it is born, but for others there are a lot of factors riding on the sex of a baby, such as wanting to name them after a relative or being able to make us of the almost brand-new clothing that a friend is giving away once their baby grows out of it. Whatever the reason may be for wanting to conceive either a girl or a boy, there are some methods couples can try. Whether they work or not is certainly debatable, but it's worth a try anyway.

Firstly, there have been some clinical trials carried out that have given results to show that what a woman eats in the few hours surrounding conception can affect the sex of the baby. Reportedly, eating salty and high fat foods such as a burger and chips or something with a lot of protein such as steak and eggs can help to conceive a boy, whereas eating fruit and sugary foods may increase the chances of conceiving a girl.

One of the most esteemed writers on this subject is Dr. Shettles, whose book 'How to Choose the Sex of Your Baby' claims to give couples a 68% chance of conceiving the sex that they are looking for. Dr. Shettles himself admits there is little clinical research to prove his theory correct, but it uses careful timings coupled different levels of penetration to conceive either a boy or a girl. It also rides upon the theory that sperm containing the Y chromosome (which codes for a male baby) swim much faster than those with another X chromosome. Therefore to conceive a boy, couples should practice deep penetration to give the X chromosome sperm less chance to fertilize the egg. Also, couples who want to have a baby boy should try to conceive as close to ovulation as possible (preferably 4 to 5 days beforehand) when the vagina is more alkaline and therefore able to support the life of a Y chromosome sperm much better.

To conceive a girl, Dr. Shettles advises using a sexual position that allows shallow penetration, so that the sperm arrive in a slightly more acidic environment where Y chromosome sperm cannot survive, but the more robust, longer living X chromosome can soldier through to fertilize the egg. This should be done in the week leading up to fertilization as chromosome sperm can live for up to 6 days, but not in the 2 or 3 days beforehand or this gives the Y chromosome sperm a better chance of fertilization.

These methods are just two in a long line of theories towards how couples can conceive a baby of either one gender or the opposite. Even amongst them all there is only one guaranteed way to determine the sex of a baby and that is PGD, otherwise known as embryo screening; a method which is not available to all couples.

Stan Tian

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