You Can Choose the Sex of Your Next Baby, Naturally or With the Help of a Lab
If you have several girls in the family, you might want to find how to conceive a boy. However, if you have always wanted a princess and pal to go shopping with you and do other girly things, but have all boys; knowing the best way to increase your chances of having a girl is important to you. Gender selection methods have been around for hundreds of years. In fact, the Chinese Gender Chart, which is 7,000 years old, is approximately 90 percent accurate. You may simply want to round out your family with a boy or a girl or there may be medical reasons, such as hemophilia, which a mother passes to a son, for your decision to use gender selection.
Why Consider Natural Methods?
As mentioned previously, natural methods have been around for years. In most cases, there are viable scientific reasons for them to work and some have as much as 90 percent accuracy in determining the sex of your child. They may be as simple as timing intercourse or a bit more complicated such as eating a specific diet. For those who want to know how to conceive a boy, choosing the correct position during relations may help the outcome. As mentioned previously, the Chinese Gender chart/calendar is also a viable option.
When using natural methods for gender selection, there are several benefits. The methods, unlike the medical techniques, are not invasive and very inexpensive. You may only need to change your diet to achieve the results you desire. As with all things, there are positives and negatives when it comes to natural methods for gender selection.
For those who have medical reasons for gender selection, such as a genetic disease that is exclusive to one particular sex, using the method with the most accuracy is of utmost importance. In this case, only the medical technique using PGD or Pre-Implantation Genetic Diagnostics is 99.9 percent accurate. Some of the dietary restrictions may be difficult to maintain and other methods may be quite confusing. However, there are options to consider when thinking about natural gender selection, such as well researched books which are designed to aid couples who simply want to improve their chances of having a boy or girl. These can take away some of the confusion in the process.
The Pros and Cons of Laboratory Gender Selection
The tests mentioned previously, PGD, were created to find genetic defects in fertilized eggs. As research continued, they found these methods could identify whether the embryo would be a boy or a girl. This was very important for couples with genetic sex-linked diseases, such as hemophilia that transfers from mother to son. The procedure requires In-Vitro Fertilization, but for those worried parents, the discomfort, multiple doctor visits and expense was worth it.
As couples became more aware of the accuracy of the testing, some opted to use it for gender selection. Few labs, however, will perform the procedure for this purpose, unless it is medically necessary. While some couples love the fact there is almost 100 percent accuracy and may have the money to pay for this procedure, they may feel it is morally wrong to interfere with nature, removing that option from the table as an option for gender selection for them forever.
The gender selection procedure is not a quick visit to the doctor where he takes a blood sample. It is quite long and involved. There is stimulation of the ovaries to produce extra eggs and preparation of the sperm. First, the lab fertilizes the eggs and by the third day, each has between six to eight cells. The lab removes one of the cells to identify the genetic make-up that identifies the fertilized egg as a boy or a girl. Then the doctor reimplants the egg of the appropriate gender and freezes any remaining fertilized eggs for later use. It is a long, complicated process, which may cost $20,000 or more. In most cases where gender selection is not medically necessary, insurance probably wont pay for it.
MicroSort is another method the lab uses for gender selection. It involves identifying the sperm by sex to isolate them and create a sample with only gender specific sperm, then fertilize the potential mother with that batch of sperm. The results for this type of procedure are approximately 93 percent accurate for girls with only 82 percent accuracy for boys. While it is not nearly as expensive as PGD, it still runs upward of $5,000 and as of this writing, health insurance does not pay for it.
If you simply want to round out your family by using gender selection, you will find very few labs that will do the procedure using PGD, but you will have more luck with the MicroSort, which is far less accurate. If none of these sounds particularly appealing to you, investigating natural methods may be your best and least expensive option, with some natural methods having as much accuracy as the MicroSort technique. There are few books listing all the natural techniques, so if you want to investigate this option further, click here for more details.
Why Consider Natural Methods?
As mentioned previously, natural methods have been around for years. In most cases, there are viable scientific reasons for them to work and some have as much as 90 percent accuracy in determining the sex of your child. They may be as simple as timing intercourse or a bit more complicated such as eating a specific diet. For those who want to know how to conceive a boy, choosing the correct position during relations may help the outcome. As mentioned previously, the Chinese Gender chart/calendar is also a viable option.
When using natural methods for gender selection, there are several benefits. The methods, unlike the medical techniques, are not invasive and very inexpensive. You may only need to change your diet to achieve the results you desire. As with all things, there are positives and negatives when it comes to natural methods for gender selection.
For those who have medical reasons for gender selection, such as a genetic disease that is exclusive to one particular sex, using the method with the most accuracy is of utmost importance. In this case, only the medical technique using PGD or Pre-Implantation Genetic Diagnostics is 99.9 percent accurate. Some of the dietary restrictions may be difficult to maintain and other methods may be quite confusing. However, there are options to consider when thinking about natural gender selection, such as well researched books which are designed to aid couples who simply want to improve their chances of having a boy or girl. These can take away some of the confusion in the process.
The Pros and Cons of Laboratory Gender Selection
The tests mentioned previously, PGD, were created to find genetic defects in fertilized eggs. As research continued, they found these methods could identify whether the embryo would be a boy or a girl. This was very important for couples with genetic sex-linked diseases, such as hemophilia that transfers from mother to son. The procedure requires In-Vitro Fertilization, but for those worried parents, the discomfort, multiple doctor visits and expense was worth it.
As couples became more aware of the accuracy of the testing, some opted to use it for gender selection. Few labs, however, will perform the procedure for this purpose, unless it is medically necessary. While some couples love the fact there is almost 100 percent accuracy and may have the money to pay for this procedure, they may feel it is morally wrong to interfere with nature, removing that option from the table as an option for gender selection for them forever.
The gender selection procedure is not a quick visit to the doctor where he takes a blood sample. It is quite long and involved. There is stimulation of the ovaries to produce extra eggs and preparation of the sperm. First, the lab fertilizes the eggs and by the third day, each has between six to eight cells. The lab removes one of the cells to identify the genetic make-up that identifies the fertilized egg as a boy or a girl. Then the doctor reimplants the egg of the appropriate gender and freezes any remaining fertilized eggs for later use. It is a long, complicated process, which may cost $20,000 or more. In most cases where gender selection is not medically necessary, insurance probably wont pay for it.
MicroSort is another method the lab uses for gender selection. It involves identifying the sperm by sex to isolate them and create a sample with only gender specific sperm, then fertilize the potential mother with that batch of sperm. The results for this type of procedure are approximately 93 percent accurate for girls with only 82 percent accuracy for boys. While it is not nearly as expensive as PGD, it still runs upward of $5,000 and as of this writing, health insurance does not pay for it.
If you simply want to round out your family by using gender selection, you will find very few labs that will do the procedure using PGD, but you will have more luck with the MicroSort, which is far less accurate. If none of these sounds particularly appealing to you, investigating natural methods may be your best and least expensive option, with some natural methods having as much accuracy as the MicroSort technique. There are few books listing all the natural techniques, so if you want to investigate this option further, click here for more details.