My husband and I are the parents of two daughters. Our previous pregnancy strategy had just been to have a lot of sex, all the time. When we decided to go for a third baby, we were interested to see if we could try gender selection for a boy using natural methods.
Thank goodness for the internet, which has a ton of information about gender selection! (Note that this is just for fun, and not based on credible science.) The general theory of natural gender selection is that male sperm are faster than female sperm but also more fragile. So you’ve got to give them their best chance at getting to the egg. There are a few ways to do this:
Timing of intercourse
Female sperm can hang out in the body waiting for an egg for a few days. Males, not so much. The trick to having a boy, according to “the literature,” is to have intercourse when you’ve already released an egg. That way, all the male sperm have to do is just swim up to it. Conversely, to have a girl, have sex prior to ovulation so that all those male hares drop out of the race, leaving the egg open to the female tortoises.
Vaginal pH
Apparently, a more acidic vaginal environment tends to kill male sperm and is more favorable to female sperm. You can attempt to change the pH of your vagina through your diet. If you want to have a boy, eat alkalizing foods that are high in sodium and potassium and low in calcium and magnesium. For a girl, do the opposite — eat acidic foods. Certain lubricants also (allegedly) have different pH levels, so to protect those male sperm, use a natural oil rather than a synthetic lube.
Position and orgasm
Anything that helps move the male sperm to the (hopefully) awaiting egg faster is good if you want to conceive a boy. Sexual positions that deposit the sperm as close as possible are best. Female orgasm is also good because it is supposed to draw the sperm closer to the egg.
So… does it work?
I’m not going to get into the gory details here, but my husband and I tried some of these strategies. We only had sex when there was evidence I was ovulating. We did without synthetic lubricants. I made him skip underwear in the days leading up to ovulation, so his sperm didn’t overheat.
I’m over 35, so we were able to do the DNA test that allows us to find out the baby’s sex at 12 weeks. We just got our results.
I love that you tried it out! And I laughed out loud when I got to the end.