Can a mother influence whether she has a boy or a girl, or is it all up to dad? Read about what determines the gender of a baby, and the biological odds of changing that one special sperm.
What Determines the Gender of a Baby?
Genetics determines whether a baby will be a girl or a boy. Girls have two X chromosomes (XX), and boys have one X and one Y chromosome (XY).
Whether a baby will be a boy or a girl is determined at the time of conception. This is when a single male sperm fertilizes the female egg.
Read more about What is a Chromosome?
[sc: inlinead]Does the Mother or Father Determine the Baby’s Gender?
A father’s sperm determines a baby’s gender.
A mother’s egg carries only an X chromosome, while a father’s sperm either carries either an X chromosome, or a Y chromosome.
The average male ejaculation contains a whooping number of 200 million – 500 million sperm. But only one of these sperm will ultimately fertilize an egg. That’s about 1/250,000,000!!!
With so many sperm, it is statistically impossible to change the 50:50 ratio of girl (X chromosome) to boy (Y chromosome) sperm. The natural biological odds for a girl or a boy is always 50/50 — though a little prayer and good luck certainly won’t hurt. Read more…Myths of Natural Gender Selection: The Sperm Race to Nowhere
[sc: bottomad]There are no diets, or exercises, or underwear, or acrobatic sex acts that can change that ONE sperm in 250,000,000. To scientifically change the odds of having a girl or a boy, there are only two methods proven via clinical trials: sperm sorting or preimplantation genetic diagnosis (IVF/PGD).
Parents throughout the centuries have tried all kinds of tricks to influence the natural 50:50 ratio of X and Y chromosomes in sperm. These old wife’s tales about gender prediction are quite entertaining, though scientifically, they’re poppycock!
