Want to Know How to Conceive a Boy or Girl? - Continued

Natural conception

If you’re looking for advice on how to conceive a boy without the help of a reproductive technology, you’ll quickly hear about the “Shettles” method and the “Whelan” method.

When it comes to sperm, girls are stronger than boys. Y-bearing boy-sperm are less sturdy, though a bit faster. So couples aiming for a boy need to make it as easy as possible on the sperm: they should have intercourse near ovulation, using the rear entry position, and the woman should climax. This advice comes from Landrum Shettles, MD, PhD, a former associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Columbia University, and David Rorvik, coauthors of “How to Choose the Sex of Your Baby.” Their book also addresses how to conceive a girl: missionary position, two days before ovulation, and no orgasm for Mom.

But if you read “Boy or Girl?” by Elizabeth Whelan in order to find out how to conceive a boy, you’ll learn that you’ll increase the boy-odds by having sex four to six days before you ovulate. Her advice on how to conceive a girl is to abstain from intercourse until two or three days before ovulation.

Other (unproven and unlikely) tips about how to conceive a boy

The guaifenesin in cough syrup that thins nasal mucus also thins vaginal fluid, which may be more favorable for Y-chromosome sperm.

Because acid may be bad for boy sperm, you could start a low-acid diet a few weeks before you want to conceive.

Have Dad drink coffee before intercourse, which could speed up the speedier boy-sperm.

Don’t-bet-on-it tips about how to conceive a girl

• Lose weight.
• Stay away from salt and eat more magnesium and calcium.
• An ancient Chinese calendar predicts gender by the mother’s age and the month of conception. Search to find a month that predicts a girl.

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