Gender Selection

Girl or Boy? Sex Selection Techniques for Everyone before Pregnancy

By Robin Elise Weiss, LCCE, About.com
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    * girl or boy
    * old wives tales
    * ultrasounds
    * genetic testing
    * getting pregnant

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What is sex selection?:
Sex selection is the ability to choose a girl or a boy before you get pregnant by using some method to assist you in changing the odds towards the sex you select. Depending on the method of sex selection you choose, the ability to have that girl or boy of your dreams is nearly 100%.

    * Do you have a sex preference for baby?
    * Old Wives Tale Girl or Boy Quiz
    * How to Have a Girl
    * How to Have a Boy

MicroSort®:
The MicroSort® process sorts sperm by male and female by a process that measures differences in the DNA. Then using an intrauterine insemination (IUI) or in vitro fertilization (IVF) the enriched sample of sperm is used to help you conceive. About 92% of those attempting for a girl do conceive a girl, while the success rates for sex selection and boys using MicroSort® is lower at 81%. The pregnancy rate for using an IUI cycle is 15.6% and the overall IVF/ICSI clinical pregnancy rate is 32%.

    * MicroSort®

(5/15/08)
Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis (PGD):
This is the most effective technique in sex selection. With nearly 100% accuracy and the ability to select not only sex but a healthy embryo makes it very popular. Though this is a costly and intensive method of sex selection that uses in vitro fertilization and does biopsies on the embryos before they are returned to the uterus.

    * Preimplantation Genetic Haplotyping (PGH)

Shettles Method:
The Shettles Method is based on the fact that male and female sperm travel and survive in the reproductive tract for varying amounts of time. So you time intercourse about 12 hours prior to ovulation for a boy and several days before ovulation for a girl. This is a very simplified explanation of Shettles.

    * Shettles Method

Ericsson Albumin Method:
With Ericsson, the sperm is filtered through albumin and then an intrauterine insemination (IUI) is done with the sample. While the sample doesn't provide you with more of one particular sex, like a MicroSort® sample, it does help select the sex of the baby. For a girl, Clomid® is used since it has been shown to increase the number of girls.

    * Ericsson Method

Other Methods of Sex Selection:
There are other methods of sex selection, including prepregnancy diets to alter the pH balance of your body, timing methods that differ from Shettles, O+12, supplements, and positioning. These low tech methods are not as accurate as MicroSort® and PGD and are sometimes dangerous.

    * How to Have a Boy
    * How to Have a Girl

Finding Out if Sex Selection Worked:
There are four basic ways to find out if sex selection worked:

    * Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis
    * Prenatal Genetic Testing (Amniocentesis or Chorionic Villus Sampling (CVS))
    * Ultrasound
    * Birth

Each of these has their own risks and benefits. Some are even more accurate than others. They also vary as to at what point in or before pregnancy they can be done.

    * Girl or Boy Ultrasounds
    * Girl or Boy: The Ultrasound Quiz

Suggested Reading

    * How to Have a Girl
    * How to Have a Boy

Related Articles

    * How to Have a Boy - Choose the Sex of Your Baby
    * Is your baby a girl or boy? - The Old Wives Tale Quiz
    * How to Have a Girl - Choose the Sex of Your Baby
    * Girl or Boy: Fun Ways to Find out the Sex of Your Baby
    * The Shettles Method of Sex Selection: Fact or Fiction Can you choose a girl...

Robin Elise Weiss, LCCE
Guide since 1997

Robin Elise Weiss, LCCE
Pregnancy / Birth Guide

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