- Katie Davies, 28, that lives near Cardiff and works in the NHS, puts her legs in the air after sex to provide the female sperm a opportunity to catch up
- Lisa, 38, from Chelmsford, Essex, had sex only in the missionary position and ate oranges to increase the opportunity of her having a female baby
- Women go to extraordinary lengths to influence the gender of their child
Sadie Nicholas for the Daily Mail
View
comments
Only making love along with her husband in the missionary position. Constantly eating oranges. And – extraordinarily – banning sex on her honeymoon because ‘it fell at the wrong time’.
Lisa Humphries had gone to amazing lengths to try to ensure she would certainly conceive a baby girl. No old wives’ tale was too bizarre, no suggestion from the several online forums devoted to so-called ‘gender swaying’ was considered too peculiar. Already the mother of a young son, she was entirely focused on making sure that her next nursery would certainly be pink-hued, pretty than blue.
So when, at 20 weeks pregnant, she waited for the sonographer to deliver the results of her ultrasound, she prayed she had done enough. And when the longed-for words ‘You’re having a baby girl’ came, she wept tears of joy.
Katie Davies, 28, that lives near Cardiff and works in the NHS, turned her legs upside down after sex and ate many leafy greens and nuts to conceive Mollie, three, above. She tried for a girl by only having sex in winter
So, can peculiar diets, different sexual positions and lovemaking at specific times of the month really deliver much-desired baby girls to the desperate?
Lisa, that is now 38, is one of several women that emphatically believe so.
And, despite the fact that a baby’s gender is decided solely by whether the sperm that fertilises the egg is male or female in type – not to mention the lack of scientific evidence behind any of her techniques – Lisa, from Chelmsford, Essex, insists that her unorthodox methods undoubtedly seem to have actually worked for her.
That sex ban while on her dream honeymoon in Cape Town and Mauritius along with her husband Nathan, a company director?
Essential, she says, because it fell at the point in her monthly cycle when she believed making love would certainly have actually been most likely to develop yet another son.
‘I read about the Shettles way [developed in the Sixties and named after its American creator, Dr Landrum Shettles] that says if you have actually sex close to the time of your ovulation – which coincided along with our honeymoon – you’re at greater risk of conceiving a boy,’ says Lisa.
Why? ‘Because male sperm are said to be faster swimmers, so they would certainly have actually reached the egg first.’
Lisa, 38, from Chelmsford, Essex, pictured with Elsie, seven, and Isla, two, used the Shettles way to conceive a girl. It involves timing sex to have actually it before ovulation, to provide female sperm a much better chance
Female sperm, meanwhile, apparently have actually greater endurance and live longer than their speedier male counterparts.
To maximise your opportunity of a girl, the Shettles way advises having sex two to four days before you ovulate so the male sperm have actually died off by the time an egg becomes available.
But exactly what did her husband – that is now 47 – believe of a sex ban at that most romantic of times? ‘He was surprisingly good-natured about it. He realised that if I’d fallen pregnant along with a boy on our honeymoon, he’d never have actually heard the end of it from me.’
Lisa – that is now mum to Ben, nine, Elsie, seven, and Isla, two – likewise tweaked her diet to make a daughter more likely.
Katie along with her newborn son Joshua. After having her daughter Mollie, Katie changed her diet to be full of saltier foods, which apparently raise your chances of having a boy. It worked, and Katie gave birth to Joshua in 2014
And the endless oranges? ‘I read the acidity could kill off male sperm.’
And when she permitted lovemaking – at the right time of the month, of course – she made sure she was doing all she could to hinder the male sperm and advice the females.
‘I would certainly elevate my legs after sex to provide the slower female sperm a helping hand. I even did headstands.’
Receptionist Donna Lambert, 28, from Romford in Essex, became obsessed along with ‘gender swaying’ websites and manuals before getting pregnant along with a girl, that she is due to provide birth to any day now
Sexual positions apparently helped, too: ‘I insisted we only had sex in the missionary position, pretty than positions that penetrate more deeply, to ensure any male sperm were deposited as far away from my cervix as possible to provide the females a opportunity to catch up.’
While it all sounds a little strange, Lisa, a former NVQ exam assessor, is perfectly sane. And her story reflects the extraordinary lengths to which several thousands of women go in order to determine their baby’s gender.
Statistics suggest that if they were able to pick the gender of their child, women would certainly overwhelmingly choose a girl.
One study by parenting website Netmums revealed that while 45 per cent of women wanted girls and 32 per cent didn’t mind, simply 22 per cent actively wanted boys.
I insisted we only had sex in the missionary position, pretty than positions that penetrate more deeply, to ensure any male sperm were deposited as far away from my cervix as possible to provide the females a opportunity to catch up
More alarmingly, one in 1,000 women confessed to terminating their pregnancy after discovering they were carrying a baby of the ‘wrong’ sex. Though abortion as a way of gender selection is not, strictly speaking, illegal it is hugely controversial.
In September 2013, two doctors narrowly avoided prosecution after agreeing to arrange abortions for women that did not want girls – a worrying phenomenon seen in some ethnic communities.
Clare Murphy, external affairs director of the BPAS (formerly the British Pregnancy Advisory Service) explains: ‘Gender selection is not a grounds for abortion as laid out in the 1967 Act, which made abortion lawful in certain circumstances.
‘However, doctors try to support a woman’s choice as far as they can within the law.
‘It is not illegal for a woman to have actually an abortion where foetal sex is a factor in her decision, However she should meet the grounds of the Act – a doctor should feel her mental or physical health is at risk if she were to continue the pregnancy.’
Remarkably, feeling disappointed along with your baby’s sex is so common that it’s a recognised psychological condition known as Gender Disappointment.
Katie pictured along with her husband Robert and their children Mollie, three, and Joshua, one. Katie tried to conceive her daughter during the winter months and her son during the summer ones, as she believed it helped
All pretty horrifying for those 3.5 million people in Britain that have actually difficulty conceiving. And, isn’t a baby’s health the essential thing – not whether it will certainly be dressed in pink or blue?
Regardless, Lisa’s sex selection regime isn’t the only one out there. There are several various other supposed guarantors of a baby girl, from eating diets rich in calcium and magnesium to avoiding potassium and salt (the various other method round if you want a boy).
Other off-the-wall help include timing sex to coincide along with different seasons – have actually sex in winter for a girl and summer for a boy – or consulting the Chinese lunar calendar.
All these methods and more are used by thousands of women.
Katie along with her newborn daughter Mollie. She was desperate to have actually a girl after her sister had twin daughters
But Dr Penelope Law, a consultant obstetrician at The Portland Hospital for Women and Children in London, is sceptical.
‘The only method to ensure the sex of a baby is pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD), which involves creating embryos via traditional IVF and implanting only embryos of a certain sex,’ she says.
[The procedure is illegal in Britain unless the parents risk passing on a serious genetic condition. Many British women seek PGD in Europe and the U.S., where it’s widely available.]
‘Otherwise, a baby’s sex is determined by the father since all that short article is contained within his sperm,’ says Dr Law. ‘The sex of a child really is a 50/50 gamble.’
Lisa and her husband Nathan, pictured along with daughter Elsie, left, seve, Isla, centre, two and Ben, right, nine
Tell that to Lisa Humphries, whose unconventional efforts to conceive a baby girl seemed to have actually paid off – twice.
Shortly after her sexless honeymoon in September 2007, she discovered she was pregnant along with a baby girl, Elsie, now seven.
Then she conceived her second daughter, Isla, now two, along with the same bizarre methods.
Perhaps the real question is: why are so several modern women so determined to have actually a girl? Is it an exercise in vanity where they want to produce mini versions of themselves?
Is it because they want to offer themselves along with future ‘ideal friends’ or are they sub-consciously looking for a person to care for them in old age?
Girls make me feel our family is complete. Though I do accept the points I did to have actually them seem a bit crazy
Whatever, several admit to being crestfallen at conceiving a boy the very first time round.
‘I can’t deny when I found out I was expecting a boy during my very first pregnancy in 2006, I was a tiny bit disappointed,’ says Lisa.
‘Of course, I adored Ben the moment he was born, However I couldn’t silence the feeling that I wanted a daughter.
‘I’ve always been close to my mum and wanted to replicate that partnership along with a daughter of my own. Also, girls tend to stay close to their mums throughout their lives, while boys don’t.
‘I’d locate myself looking enviously at baby girls in the park, desperate for a sister for Ben.
‘We always said we only wanted two children. However when we started trying for a second, I told Nathan that if we had yet another boy we would certainly have actually to try for a third. He didn’t mind exactly what sex the baby was, as long as it was healthy.’
Now the mother of a son and two daughters, does Lisa love her little girls more?
‘Absolutely not,’ she says. ‘It’s simply that the girls make me feel our family is complete. Though I do accept the points I did to have actually them seem a bit crazy.’
Katie Davies likewise embraced some peculiar methods in the pursuit of a baby girl. Her dream combination for her family was an older girl and a younger boy.
Lisa along with her newborn daughter Isla in 2013. Lisa confessed that she was disappointed when she found out that her very first child would certainly be a boy
And when she and her husband Robert, 35, that works in the NHS, started trying for a family in December 2011, the timing was deliberate since she had read that conceiving a girl was more likely during the winter – a theory for which there is no scientific evidence whatsoever.
‘A baby girl was all I’d ever wanted, a feeling exacerbated when my older sister had twin daughters four years ago,’ says Katie, 28, that lives near Cardiff and works in the NHS.
‘I’d already decided that if we hadn’t conceived by early March 2012 we’d have actually used contraception again until the next winter.
‘I likewise used the Shettles method, timing sex to provide the male sperm a opportunity to die off before the egg was released.
Donna and her husband David, along with their children Beau, 17 months, left, and Jack, 12. Donna is due to provide birth to a baby daughter fairly soon
‘After sex, I’d quickly turn myself upside down on the bed along with my legs propped versus the wall to encourage female sperm towards my cervix.’
Katie likewise made dietary changes, eating calcium-rich foods and leafy greens, broccoli and nuts, which are packed along with magnesium – both, so she’d read, vital to conceiving a girl.
Two months after starting her regime, Katie discovered she was pregnant. Her daughter, Mollie, now three, was born in October 2012.
When the time came for Katie to try for a baby boy, she again changed her diet and sexual habits. This time, she waited for summer to try to conceive, and ate many potassium-rich bananas, sprouts and potatoes, plus a liberal sprinkle of salt on her meals.
When the sonographer said I was having a boy I went to the toilet and had a quiet cry
Sure enough, she conceived a boy, Joshua, that was born in March 2014.
Receptionist Donna Lambert, 28, likewise adopted unconventional methods when trying to conceive a girl. She’s due to provide birth to a baby daughter any day now.
Donna met her partner David, 39, a firefighter, six years ago and legally adopted his son Jack, 12. She and David likewise have actually a son together, Beau, 17 months.
Though she adores the boys, Donna admits feeling upset when she discovered that she was expecting a son.
‘When the sonographer said I was having a boy I went to the toilet and had a quiet cry,’ says Donna, that lives near Romford.
‘I wasn’t upset because I was having a boy. I was upset because I wasn’t having a girl, if that makes sense.
‘I worried that I wouldn’t bond along with him or her and did a lot of research into gender Irritation ahead of the birth to try to come to terms along with it.’
But the moment Beau was born she ‘fell utterly in love along with him’.
Still, Donna couldn’t shake her yearning for a girl. ‘It was primal – I had no control over it,’ she says.
‘I’d lost a baby girl when I was 18 weeks pregnant in a previous relationship, which made my desire for a daughter all the stronger.’
Donna admits she became obsessed along with ‘gender swaying’ websites, manuals and forums before she started trying for her second child last January.
She replaced the healthy meals she’d been fastidious about in her very first pregnancy along with calcium-rich and sugary foods she’d read could boost her chances of a daughter.
‘I drank pints of milk and swapped sandwiches for omelettes at lunch,’ she says. ‘I likewise began baking, having read that eating cakes and shortbread might help.
‘And I insisted David and I abstained from sex around ovulation to try to stop male sperm winning the race to the egg.
‘On some websites it advises men must drink strong coffee simply before sex to make female sperm more active.
‘However David is a realist and doesn’t believe in non-scientific theories so I didn’t even broach that idea. In fact, I didn’t reveal the extent of exactly what I was doing to try to determine the sex of our baby.’
When Donna discovered she was pregnant last June, there was one question on her mind: had her efforts paid off?
Impatient to know, her obsession shifted to her 12-week scan pictures, an age at which it is virtually impossible to conclusively identify a baby’s gender. She posted them on online forums in the vain chance people would certainly be able to identify the sex of her baby.
She paid for a private gender scan at 16 weeks – which was inconclusive.
A scan a month later confirmed she was expecting the daughter for whom she’d already bought piles of pink clothes.
‘I can’t wait to be able to do my little girl’s hair before school, go shopping along with her and choose her wedding dress along with her one day,’ says Donna, gently stroking her bump.
‘If I’d been expecting yet another boy, I would certainly have actually been happy to have actually a healthy and balanced son.
‘However then my family would certainly have actually always felt incomplete – and we can’t really afford to have actually more than three children.
‘So I’m simply thrilled to be having a daughter. And I’d like to believe that some of the points I tried helped.’
THE BARMY METHODS WOMEN TRY
Want to conceive a girl? These are the ways said to boost your chances:
The Shettles Method
Championed by Dr Landrum Shettles, it claims to have actually a 75 per cent victory rate and works on the premise that timing is everything. X-chromosome (female) sperm travel slower and live longer than Y-chromosome (male) sperm. So, by the time you ovulate and release an egg, only female sperm will certainly be left to fertilise it.
Missionary position
Having sex lying down in the man-on-top position only gives shallow penetration. Supposedly male sperm don’t survive well in acidic environments. As a woman’s vagina is more acidic nearer the entrance, deep penetration helps male sperm avoid the area.
Avoiding climax
It appears unfair, However there are two explanations – when a woman climaxes, she releases a substance that increases alkaline levels in her vagina. As male sperm prefer alkaline environments, it gives them more opportunity of survival. And orgasms advice move sperm towards the cervix, so faster swimming male sperm have actually more opportunity of reaching the egg.
Regular sex
Having many sex can lower your partner’s sperm count slightly, thus increasing the opportunity that only resilient female sperm will certainly make it to the egg to fertilise it.
Upping your vitamins
Eat more leafy green vegetables, fruit and foods high in vitamin C, calcium and magnesium. These foods may alter the consistency, composition and pH of your vagina, making it friendlier to female sperm and increasing their life span.
Low salt diet
Salt is believed to be bad for female sperm.
Chinese lunar cycle
Dating back hundreds of years, the Chinese lunar calendar uses phases of the Moon to predict when you’re most likely to have actually a girl. Supporters claim it’s 90 per cent accurate. There’s an online version at http://ift.tt/1RP5s54. However how does it work? Practitioners believe that simply as the Moon influences tides, it can influence sperm, too.
Initiate sex
Letting the man decide when to have actually sex is believed to make it more likely you’ll have actually a boy. However letting the woman pick the moment — and having slow, romantic sex when you do — supposedly produces more girls, as a woman is only likely to suggest sex when the time and conditions are perfect.
Sleep on your left
Centuries ago, it was believed if a woman slept on her left edge before and after conception, she would certainly have actually a girl. The theory behind it was that the right edge of the womb is hotter than the left, and warmer sperm were more likely to develop a boy.
from Golden Land Travel http://ift.tt/20FdTA7
0 komentar:
Post a Comment