How to influence the gender of your baby.

Look, we can’t promise anything but it’s worth a shot…right?

After having two beautiful sons, I began to long for a little girl of my own. I knew that I wanted more children regardless of their gender and of course, would have been happy with any healthy baby – boy or girl – but I desperately wanted a daughter of my own.

So I became an expert. Well, when I say expert I mean online forum expert.

I’ve read everything about gender influence ever written. In case you’re wondering whether you can, in fact, influence the gender of your unborn baby, I’ve done the hard work for you.

So first, the basics. It's actually the man which determines the sex of the child. Men carry both male and female sperm and as we all know, only one sperm penetrates an egg. (One sperm can penetrate an egg which later divides resulting in identical twins or two eggs can be fertilised by two sperm which will give you fraternal twins.) In order to conceive a girl the X chromosome sperm needs to meet the egg first. If a sperm carrying a Y chromosome gets there first, you'll have yourself a little boy.

(Please note that none of these methods are actually proven to work 100 per cent of the time. In fact, when I consulted my OB about increasing my chances of having a girl, I was told that when talking about swaying gender, you're talking about 0.05 per cent of an influence so really, pretty minimal. Either way, it's worth a shot?!)

1. Timing.

The Shettles method of contraception has been around since the 1960s and requires you to have a good understanding of your cycles. This could mean that you need to chart your observations for a few months before you start trying or use ovulation predictor tests to see a pattern and determine exactly which day you ovulate.

The idea behind The Shettles method is that female sperm swim slower than male sperm but they live longer.

If it's a little girl you're after, you should start having sex every day from your period in the lead up to ovulation, but stop 2-3 days beforehand. Having sex the day before, or the day of ovulation increases your chances of conceiving a boy because typically, the male sperm will reach the egg first.

2. Position.

The sex position theory says that certain sexy time positions favour one gender over the other.

To get specific, the closer to the cervix the sperm is deposited, the higher the chance of a boy. If you're hoping for a little man, try and get frisky in positions which involve deep penetration (I'll let you do your own research on that) and if it's a girl that you want, missionary position is generally the most recommended.

3. Orgasm.

While perhaps slightly less fun from the woman's point of view, avoiding orgasm during sex is said to increase your chances of having a daughter. The idea is that natural chemicals released when a woman climaxes are highly alkaline which favours male sperm.

4. Diet.

If you're trying to conceive a particular gender, you might first want to look at your diet.

Female sperm are said to favour acidic environments, which can be aided by eating increased amounts of citrus fruits, vinegar and chocolate (yay). You should also decrease your salt intake if you're hoping to be shopping for pink and make sure you eat a stack of fresh fruit and vegetables.

To increase your chances of conceiving a boy you should include lots salty foods and increase your glucose intake.

5. Underwear.

There are some people who believe the kind of underwear your man is wearing could influence the gender of your unborn baby.

The tale goes that men who prefer a snug fit to their undies are more likely to have a boy and those hanging free and easy in boxers will go on to father daughters. The theory is based on the idea that the temperature of a man's genitals impacts the amount, and makeup of his sperm.

6. Ions.

We're going to travel back to chemistry class for this one (Hi Mrs Whalesby) but stay with me. Ions are charged particles which are found in the air. They carry either a positive or a negative charge. It has been suggested that ions which have a negative charge increase your chances of having a daughter, where as positive ions increase the odds of having a boy.

In case you're wondering how on earth you influence your ions, you can actually purchase jewellery online which will sway you either way. (I make no claims about the authenticity or accuracy of this jewellery.)

Oh by the way, after two boys I've been told number three is a girl. It must have been the ions.

What methods of gender swaying have you heard about? Have you tried any and did they work?

CLICK THROUGH the gallery to find some great gendered-baby shower gift ideas for your pregnant friends.

Want more? Try:

9 gender-reveal baby shower ideas (that aren’t a tiny bit tacky). 

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