Gender Selection page 2
Boy or Girl: Can I Choose?
Compiled by The Cradle Staff
(cont'd)
The following methods are based less on scientific merit and more on folklore and cultural practices.
Diet
You may have heard that if you want a girl, you should stick with sweets and calcium-rich foods, and if you’re hoping for a boy, you should consume salty foods and red meat. Aside from studies that show that diet has no relationship to the potential gender of your baby, severely limiting your diet (or overindulging in salt if you’re on a salt-restricted diet) could have adverse effects on someone who should be in optimal health to conceive a child.
Verdict: Not worth the trouble.
Chinese Calendar
Another belief is based on the Chinese calendar. There is a predetermined chart, with ages running across one axis, and the months of the year on another. The chart is then filled with female/male squares, and matching up your age at conception with the month of conception will apparently tell you the gender of your child. (For example, a 30-year-old conceiving in March will deliver a girl.) Unfortunately, two different sites showed two different results for a 30-year-old conceiving in February, so even if the theory has any merit, the chart you are referring to might be inaccurate.
Verdict: Try for fun, not for results.
Phases of the Moon
Following the presumption that alkalinity or acidity around the egg can affect which sperm will be successful, there is the theory that the movement of the moon can affect these changes in a woman’s womb. The theory: A full moon will aid you in your quest for a baby girl; a quarter moon will bring you a son.
Verdict: A tough one if it’s cloudy in your area.
Mother's Age at Conception
This ancient Mayan belief has to do with the mother’s age at conception and the year of conception. If both are even or both are odd, the baby will be a girl. However, if one is even and the other odd (or vice versa), the baby will be a boy.
Verdict: Difficult to prove as anything but coincidence.
Conception and Aggression
In this old wives’ tale, if the mother-to-be was the aggressor during conception, she would welcome a baby boy, whereas a girl would result from the father-to-be acting as aggressor.
Verdict: We thought this was called role play.
Temperature
If those “male” sperm are fast but fragile, the speculation here is that heat will kill these delicate swimmers. Therefore, if you are hoping for a boy, have your partner avoid hot tubs, tight clothes, laptops and anything else that could raise his internal temperature.
Verdict: Men should avoid overheating the genital area regardless of what gender they desire.
Philosophers' Practices
An ancient practice of Greek philosophers (and carried out by some 18th-century French men) was the tying of string around the left testicle in hopes of a boy. This technique was based on the belief that male and female sperm lived separately in each testicle: the y chromosome sperm in the right and the x chromosome sperm in the left.
Aristotle apparently advised that a son would be produced if conception occurred in the north wind, a girl in the south wind.
Verdict: If you need a verdict on this one, we have a bridge…
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