| Predetermining The Sex of Your Child
The following methods are the current theories regarding gender selection while trying to conceive.
The Shettles Method
The Shettles, by Dr. Landrum Shettles and David Rorvik, authors of How To Choose the Sex of Your Baby, is the method most used and most effective. According to this method Y-chromosomes (for boys) move faster but don't last as long as X-chromosomes (for girls), Dr Shettles says it makes sense to have sex as close as possible to ovulation if a boy is what you want. If you try to conceive two to four days before you ovulate, you'll most likely have a girl. For more in depth information on choosing the sex of your baby with the Shettles Method, you can visit the following pages:
The Whelan Method
Boy or Girl ?, by Elizabeth Whelan, Sc.D
Elizabeth Whelan, Sc.D., doesn't agree with the Shettles method and suggests the opposite. Whelan says if you want a boy, have intercourse four to six days before your basal body temperature goes up.
If you want a girl, don't make love until two to three days before ovulation.
The Ericsson Method
In 1975, Ronald J. Ericsson, Ph.D. began clinical studies to determine whether such enriched sperm samples would result in offspring of a desired gender. Today the Ericsson method is used in approximately half of the centers in the U.S.
Dr Ericsson devised methods by which X and Y sperm can be separated through filtering processes. This sperm sample is used for insemination when ovulation is anticipated. The enriched sperm sample is then available to fertilize the egg.
The Billings Method
A daily record of observations made at the vulva is essential for the Billings Ovulation Method. The recording is made in the evening of the most fertile characteristics noticed throughout the day. The first record, which is begun immediately, is usually of 2 - 4 weeks duration and is made without any genital contact so that the observations will not be confused by any secretions due to intercourse or contact. Your chart provides information for your husband as well, and it helps open the door for communication and decisions during these times.
A helpful question to an anxious woman is to ask her how she knows when menstruation begins. She will readily admit that she both feels and sees the bleeding as it arrives at the vulva. The observations of sensation and appearance will then be applied to all other observations the woman makes at the vulva. As the days go by she will recognize her patterns of fertility and infertility, according to the mucus patterns.
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