The Truth About Natural Gender Selection

The big question with gender selection is will you really get the gender of your dreams? Is it a guaranteed method to the little girl or boy you're dreaming of? The truth is that "natural" gender selection, and even some laboratory methods, cannot be 100%. There are many factors about conception that just aren't understood yet. You can, however, greatly increase the odds that you'll conceive the child of your desired gender.

Increasing the Odds

There is scientific evidence that parents can influence the sex of their child. It goes well beyond simply saying that the father contributes both "X" and "Y" sperm, and that one of those sperm "wins the race" and fertilizes the egg. That's a basic biology lesson that most of us learned in school. Luckily, that's not the end of the story.

You can't naturally select the sex of your child with 100% accuracy, at least not yet. But there are factors that you can influence and therefore have a good shot at the gender you're hoping for.

It's been proven that the mother's body and health has a large influence on the gender of her child. There will always be exceptions, I won't try and sugar-coat anything. But you can change the odds in your favor.

Our bodies have a pH level -- some people have a more acid body, and some people have a more alkaline body. A mother with a body that is more acid will favor the conception of a girl. A mother with a more alkaline body will favor the conception of a boy. The foods that a mother eats have an influence on the pH of her body.

The pH levels of the reproductive areas, where sperm enter the body and the egg and sperm cells meet, naturally changes throughout a woman's cycle. Early in her cycle, these areas are much more acid and hostile to sperm. When it's time for her to ovulate, however, fertile fluids (called cervical mucus) cause these areas to become much more alkaline and nourishing to sperm.

Sperm that carry the X chromosome (those that will create a girl baby) are thought to be more hardy and resilient than those that carry the Y chromosome (those that will create a baby boy). The current theory is that if you time baby-making intercourse for days when there is not much fertile fluid that the sperm that survive will be X-bearing sperm. The Y-bearing sperm are thought to be possibly faster -- because of this they can thrive and race through the more alkaline environment closer to ovulation, resulting in more boys.

These theories are still being tested, and we're not sure how much of a role timing plays. But pH seems to have definite effects. You can test your pH with a simple testing kit and use food to change the pH that your body stays at.

There are other factors that have been shown to conclusively change the ratio of babies conceived. Mothers who take in greater amounts of calories have a higher percentage of sons. Mothers who have low-calorie diets or who are actively losing weight tend to conceive daughters.

Dominant, confident women who thrive in positions of control and authority tend conceive sons, while more laid-back women tend to conceive daughters. This is thought to be a response to hormone levels within these mothers.

There are many other ways that you can sway the odds to select the gender of your choice. There are things that a father can do to increase his chances of contributing male or female sperm. Though it's true that natural methods cannot be a 100% guarantee you'll get the gender you desire, you can greatly increase the odds that you will safely and inexpensively.