So you say you'd be glad as long as the baby's healthy, but admit it: deep down, you're wishing for a baby girl. You're not alone. Couples have been trying for hundreds of years to improve their chances of conceiving a baby girl. Old wives from days of old touted everything from fish and vegetables to intercourse during a full moon. No one knows for sure whether or not these methods actually work, but that hasn't stopped thousands of people from trying.
These days, technology has made it much easier for parents to pick their child's gender, with the help of artificial insemination and In-Vitro Fertilization.
Others opt to go the adoption route, completely guaranteeing them their preferred gender. Those without the cash to design their own babies, however, have the option to employ at-home gender selection. There are a variety of methods out there for conceiving a girl, including: timing your ovulation (having intercourse 2.5 to 3 days before ovulation increases the chance of conceiving a girl), says Dr. Shettles of The Shettles Method), charting cervical mucus and Basal Body Temperature and using certain positions during intercourse. Though anticlimactic, Mom should abstain from having an orgasm; the increased alkaline levels in a woman's vagina, post-orgasm, is friendlier to "boy" sperm.
The process of conceiving baby girl is a complex dance of luck. Of the 200-400 million sperm released into a woman, only one will make it into her fertile egg (kind of like the "American Idol" of conception). Each egg in Mom's body carries an X chromosome, while each of Dad's sperm has either an X-chromosome (female) or Y-chromosome (male). To conceive a girl, a sperm with a X-chromosome needs to make it to Mama's egg first. One way to get those slower "girls" moving us with an herbal supplement; Dad is also encouraged to take a hot bath before intercourse to "warm up" the girly sperm (they can tolerate higher temperatures, unlike their male counterparts). To tip the scale even more your way, many people consult the Chinese Lunar Birth Calendar, which predicts a baby's gender based on the mother's age and the month in which she conceives.
The good news about trying to conceive a baby girl is that while male sperm are faster swimmers, according to Dr. Shettles, X-chromes are hardier biologically. So, while you can never have complete control over the outcome, it certainly won't hurt to try a few tricks and give your baby girl the best shot she can get.
To Learn More About A Tried and True Method to Conceive a Girl, Visit How To Conceive A Girl
