sex determination of baby?

Question

I have 3 boys and want a girl badly. I heard they have medical ways to make sure it will be a girl. Has anyone done this and how much does it cost average? I know my insurance won't cover it.

Answer 1

I have 4 children: 3 boys, and a girl (who was #4). So it can be done! And by the way, the few serious studies done showed that, contrary to popular belief, a given sex does NOT "run in the family". And that having had 3 boys does NOT mean that your chance of having a girl next is any different from what it was on your first try.

Medical ways? Well yes, they can sort the sperm (by centrifugation, i.e. by weight, since male sperm is a very little bit lighter) and then attempt to inseminate you with (mostly) X (or Y) sperm. This is time-consuming, and it requires very qualified personel. Many hours of highly-paid personel means high cost, as in several thousand dollars.

And, some doctors worry that the selection process could in some way harm the sperm, and that this could possibly lead to problems in the baby / adult (though I don't think anything has been proved here).

What about non-medical? I can tell you what we've done (maybe we were just lucky, but anyway it worked). Y sperm is lighter therefore swims a bit faster (same engine) but its lifespan is shorter. X sperm is heavier and swims a bit more slowly but lives longer.

To increase the odds of a girl, you want to favour X sperm:
- deep penetration means the X sperm will be at less of a disadvantage. Man on top, woman legs up. Or from behind.
- ovulation occurs roughly on the 14th day of a regular, 28 day cycle. Better to check for sure, cheap ovulation tests can be bought (they function like pregnancy tests, only with a different hormone).
- fertility window starts from the first sperm that has a chance of still being alive when ovulation occurs (sperm can live up to 5-6 days), and lasts until the egg is dead (it lives 1-2 days).

If you have sex, say, 5 days before ovulation, and then no sex, then only the longest-surviving sperm cells will have a chance to fertilise the egg. Within that population, there will be more X sperm (since Y sperm has a shorter life span).

Of course if you have sex too long before ovulation, it may be that no sperm cells survive, and no fertilisation will occurr.


In our case, first we decided that we would be very happy even if we "failed" and we had a 4th boy. I mean you cannot have a 4th baby and be disappointed when it comes, this could had bad implications on its future psychological development.

Then we decided to start with sex 6 days ahead of ovulation (i.e. day 8 in a regular, 28 day cycle), planning to try this for 2 months, and if it did not work, to go down to 5 days before and try for two months, then 4 days before and try for as long as it would take.

Well, for us it worked the first time, i.e. the sperm survived 6 days. The doctor said this was very much above average (3 to 5 days) but not a record either, since there have been cases of sperm surviving 8 days and still being able to fertilise an egg.

First note: sperm life span apparently varies quite a bit based on (1) age, and (2) lifestyle (as in healthy foods, little alcohol, no smoking, etc.). Clearly, if a man is old(er) and does not have a healthy lifestyle, and if as a consequence his sperm has an average lifespan of 2-3 days, the method above may note work, i.e. fail to cause conception.

Second note: this method I suggest will only, at best, increase the odds of having a girl (by how much I have no idea, maybe to 60-65 percent chance instead of 50?). It will by no means guarantee a girl (which is why you have to first decide whether you'd be happy raising a 4th boy).

Good luck

Answer 2

So far as I know, the only sure fire way to ensure you have a girl is to adopt. With in virto fertilization they do determine the sex of the embryo's prior to introducing them for implantation- but not all labs do that. And the cost depends on the clinic and the doctor. There are some clinics who spin sperm in a centrifuge to concentrate the x sperm in the bottom- but can't guarantee the sex of the baby every time. Unless you are really that particular, you might just want to accept you didn't marry the X man, just the Y guy, and be happy you are adored by four fellows. That's better numbers than most ladies have.

Answer 3

$20,000 is what I've heard, too.

But for that kind of money, why not adopt? There are little girls out there right now that already exist and need loving homes. Besides, the world population is increasing way too fast and adoption is an excellent way to help decrease the rate at which our population is growing.

Your insurance wont cover the procedure that determines the sex of your biological child, but may companies offer adoption assistance (usually in the thousands of dollars) and the government offers tax breaks, too. Adoption would most likely be the least expensive way to be absolutely sure to get a girl!

Good luck!

Answer 4

It does get costly. Not sure if it is worth the cost to you. They will have to do what they call sperm washing. That way the get the exact sperm the want with the correct x y chromosome things. Then they have to do the whole Invitro process and insert that sperm into your eggs and then reinsert them into you.
Here is a website you can look at
http://www.havingbabies.com/

Answer 5

I'm not sure how much it costs, but I know it can be done. You would have to contact a fertility specialist and check with them.

Answer 6

yes its true but no aloud her only in france and germany and its not 100 it 80 next no isurance do not coverthis because its expermantal invetro hat they do is take eggs and sperm female sperm is more active then males they dived these and insert a sperm this is were they gestate four fivr day than implante or freeze cost is 3000

Answer 7

you have to get in vitro fertilization to have a specific sex. however. most places will not do sexual selection as it is considered discrimination. as seen in this article on cnn. (see source list).
in most cases people think it is immoral. so good luck.
the only sure fire way to get a girl is to adopt

Answer 8

Yes you can pre-determine the gender of your baby. The rest I do not know!

Answer 9

One sure way is to adopt

Answer 10

my brother in law looked into that and i believe he said it costs around $20,000.