Nature boy (or girl!)
Do you dream of painting the nursery pink or blue? Are you mom to a brood of boisterous boys and longing for a break from all that testosterone? Or buried knee deep in an endless sea of frills, flowers and Barbie dolls and secretly desperate for a baby boy? Trying natural methods of sex selection won’t cost you anything – and there’s at least a 50% chance that they’ll work!
1 Timed sex
This is the egg and sperm race method – the theory is that because male sperm are faster swimmers having sex on the day you ovulate means they’re more likely to reach the egg first. Female sperm are slower but live longer, so if you have sex a few days before you ovulate, chances are they’ll still be hanging around in there ready willing and able to fertilize your egg long after those speedy male sperm have all died off. You can combine this method with girl/boy sexual positions: the missionary position deposits sperm further away from the cervix so the male sperm are more likely to die off before those little swimmers make it; while rear entry positions deposit sperm nearer the cervix, giving the male sperm a fighting chance of hitting the jackpot first. Anecdotally, this method has a 75% success rate but you’d need to be pretty sure of when you ovulate for it to work.
2 Sexual position
Though speedy-quick, male sperm are delicate flowers, so this theory goes. The acid conditions at the entrance of the vagina don’t suit them so if you want a boy use positions that guarantee deep penetration that will deposit them much higher up in the vagina (girls on top or rear entry), where the conditions are more alkaline. For a girl, go for shallow penetration (missionary position), which should see favor female sperm, which are tough enough to withstand that acid environment. An added factor may be when you climax: some experts reckon that if you go first the vagina becomes more alkaline, better suiting male sperm. As to the success rate, experts point out that position has nothing at all to do with it and that the rate at which sperm reaches the egg has more to do with cervical mucus.
3 Douching
This also picks up on the acid versus alkaline theory and according to this method douching with an alkaline solution such as baking soda diluted in water will produce the conditions that favor male sperm. Although there is some evidence to support this method, many experts warn against it because most women would be clueless as to how dilute the solution needed to be and would risk upsetting the delicate ph of the vagina.
4 Abstinence
This theory goes that delaying sex until the point you ovulate means there will be more male sperm present, making it more likely you’ll conceive a boy. While it is correct that abstinence means more sperm build up, they won’t necessarily be one or the other so while you may well be more likely to fall pregnant your baby’s sex won’t come into it.
5 Diet
Experts concede that diet does seem to factor in your baby’s gender: history indicates that underweight women are more likely to have boys and the male birth rate increases in times of famine. This would seem to suggest that food plays a part, and proponents of this method claim that a diet rich in potassium (think bananas, apricots, dried fruit, meat) making a boy more likely, while a magnesium-rich diet (spinach, black beans, nuts, soy beans) being more likely to result in a girl.