Tuesday, July 08, 2008
Choose the Sex of Your Baby - Part 2
8-JULY-2008:
The Shettles method for conceiving the child of your desired sex is based on the scientific observation that the Y sperm is more lightweight and hence has a higher mobility than the heavier X sperm. However, the mortality of X sperm is higher. Shettles recommends that you have sex 2.5 to 3 days before ovulation in order to increase your chances of conceiving a girl. Contrarily, you should have sex as close to ovulation as possible to dramatically increase your chances of conceiving a boy. The timing of intercourse in relation to ovulation is a vital factor. Besides, according to Shettles, a woman's cervical mucus becomes more alkaline towards the time of ovulation and favours the Y sperm more, whereas an acidic environment will favour the X sperm.
Intercourse further away from ovulation favours the larger slower X sperm. The Y sperm will die more quickly in the more acidic pre-ovulatory vaginal secretions and by the time of ovulation there will be a much larger concentration of X sperm available to fertilize the egg.
Shettles also recommends to cease all sexual activities 2 days before ovulation in order to conceive a girl.
Shettles recommends ways to determine your time of ovulation:
- Charting your cervical mucus - you observe your cervical mucus on a daily basis. Right before you ovulate, your cervical mucus should be very watery and elastic. It's consistency should be that of raw egg white. Charting for about 3 months before you attempt to conceive is recommended so you can be certain that you are ovulating on a specific day. The book has more information on this but you'll have to read it yourself. :-)
- Basal Body Temperature (BBT) Charting - you take down your temperature each morning before you get out of bed. At the time of ovulation, you will see a spike in your temperature which will indicate that you have already ovulated.
- Using ovulation predictor kits - Shettles said it's expensive but I suppose this is the easiest way of determining when you ovulate. However, Shettles mentions reasons that this should not be used solely to determine the time of ovulation.
Sexual position has an implication as well (scientifically). Shettles suggests that if you are trying for a girl, a missionary position will deposit sperm closer to the entrance of the vagina (which is more acidic). The acidity will work against the Y sperm, leaving more X sperm available to fertilize your egg.
Finally, in order to conceive a girl, the woman should not have an orgasm because studies show that women release secretions that are more alkaline (favouring the Y sperm) during orgasm.
If you're trying to conceive a boy, just do the opposite. :-) If you're serious about trying, it's worth buying the book because it tells you exactly how to chart your cervical mucus and BBT.
So why did I say that trying for a girl is more difficult? If you're trying for a boy, you almost always know when you ovulate, be it the change in the CM (cervical mucus) or a positive ovulation test kit. It's simple, the moment you get a positive result from the test kit, it's time to have sex. And you don't need to withold from having an orgasm.
Trying for a girl takes a little bit of patience. You don't know how long your partner's X sperms can live in you - perhaps 2 days, perhaps 3. But you want to have sex as far away as your ovulation as possible. So maybe you try it 3 days before on the 1st month. Shettles recommends that after doing that for 6 months and you're still not pregnant, move it 2 days. You see ... I don't have 6 months. I'm not that patient. This is the part where I think I'm not able to follow diligently.
