natural gender selection - Boston Moms

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.

We’re having another baby girl. And we couldn’t be happier.

Rachel Wilson
Rachel is a native of the West Coast and didn't know that her straight hair could frizz until she made the move East! After earning a Master of Environmental Management from Yale, she moved to Boston for a job opportunity and, on her first Saturday night in the city, met the man who would become her husband. They married in 2012 and are learning more every day about how to be parents to daughters Annabel (2013) and Eleanor (2016). Rachel and her family recently relocated from Charlestown to the Metrowest suburbs and are enjoying their yard, but dislike shoveling snow from their driveway. Rachel currently works as an energy and environmental consultant, and wore Birkenstocks before they were trendy. Likes: her family, her in-laws, cooking ambitious meals and leaving the dishes for someone else, hiking, running, yoga, climbing mountains, reading books, farmers' markets and her CSA, dark chocolate peanut butter cups, the sound of her daughters' laughter, and coffee Dislikes: running out of milk, New England winters, diaper rash, wastefulness, cell phones at the dinner table

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