Conference moira::parenting_v3

    I never knew there was a study on this subject, but I have heard the
    old wives tale about eating green beans will get you a boy!
    
    
    
    Sorry, can't help ya.....

    .1
    
    Whats the tale for getting a girl??  Carrots maybe?
    
    
    
    -nt
    

    I was told that eating fish gets you a girl.  I had a tunafish sandwich
    almost every day for lunch while pregnant, and had a girl.
    
    -Joy
    

    here's one my Grandfather used to tell me: 
    
    if you want a boy, the *father* should eat broccoli.

I've never heard anything about food that is eaten that would make a
difference.  However, I have heard a lot about influencing the sex by
creating an alkaline or acidic environment in the vagina before the sperm
arrived.  I suppose certain types of food which were alkaline or slightly
acidic which were directly introduced into the vagina could help, but I don't
know if eating the foods would do that. 

        Carol

re: a couple back

Sorry not the food eaten while pregnant but the food eaten prior to
fertilization of the egg (by the sperm).

re: .5

I would have to believe the study was along this line (taken with a new twist),
they do say "You are what you eat" :-).

-Jeff-

    
    re: .5
    
    A discussion of the factors influencing the selection of your baby's
    sex can be found in the book "Choose the Sex of Your Baby" by 
    Dr. Shettles and one other author (I don't have the book here so
    may be off a bit on the title).   The method claims to be 75+% 
    successful in sex-selection primarily by charting cervical mucous
    and basal body temperatures (i.e. pinpointing ovulation date/time)
    and planning fertilization for the "appropriate" time for the desired
    sex of the offspring.   The method is most successful for planning
    boys.   While not specifically what the basenoter has asked for (and
    certainly at the risk of starting a major debate!), it is interesting 
    reading nonetheless.
    
    Carol
    

    
    I think I have a small writeup on this subject, how food influences
    conception of either a boy or a girl.  I hope I didn't throw it out.
    I'll look when I'm home tonight.  It was a study done in Europe with
    85-95% success.  For girls, you were supposed to eat foods high in
    magnesium (I think).  However, for the record, I must admit I tried
    to conceive a girl this last time (#3) and got my 3rd boy!  Wouldn't
    trade him for the world!  So, take it with a light heart, it's just
    an "experiment".
    
    -dorothy

    re: take it with a light heart..
    
    The book that I mentioned stresses this as well.   They make it clear,
    in no uncertain terms, that if a couple is unwilling to accept a child 
    of *either* sex, that they should not be using their method.
    
    I look forward to your posting.
    
    Carol

    I've found the study.  The article is from 1982, at such time the study
    had been going on for 12 years.  The doctor involved is Dr. Joseph
    Stolkoski.  He is/was the chairman of the physiology department at the
    Pierre and Marie Curie University in Paris.  He contends that a woman
    who wants to give birth to a boy should eat foods rich in potassium and
    sodium -such as meat, fish, vegetables, chocolate and salt - beginning
    at least 6 weeks before she wishes to become pregnant.  A woman who
    wants a girl baby should eat foods rich in calcium and magnesium, such
    as milk, cheese, nuts, beans and cereals.  
    
    Stolkowski believes that sex determination is influenced by ionic
    factors; controlling daily diet, controlling ratio of potassium and
    sodium ions to calcium and magnesium ions alters a woman's ovarian
    metabolism.
    
    There isn't enough evidence to explain why it works, but it supposedly
    works.  In a study of 47 French coules from 1970-1980, 39 of them
    produced a child of the selected gender after the wives followed
    special diets.  In Canada, a study of 224 couples revealed an 80%
    success rate with this method.
    
    Another collaborator is Dr. Jacques Lorrain of the Sacred Heart
    Hospital in Montreal.
    
    They warn for couples not to follow a diet program without the
    involvement of a physician.
    
    (printed without permission from Parade Magazine, June 27, 1982)
    
    By now they must have some more data to either substantiate or refute
    their findings.
    
    Hope this is helpful,
    
    
    Dorothy

       <<< Note 804.10 by LEZAH::MINER "Mom...I'm as happy as a shark" >>>
              -< Here's the info on the gender selection study  >-

>>    He contends that a woman who wants to give birth to a boy should eat 
>>    foods rich in potassium and sodium -such as meat, fish, vegetables, 
>>    chocolate and salt - beginning
      *********

Ah, I knew there was a reason that thinking about having a 3rd was a good
idea!!!

Liz

    
    Yeah, I have 3 boys, it must have been the chocolate.  I tried the diet
    for the girl, just casually, you know, lots of milk, cereals and
    cheese...but I couldn't stay away from the chocolate bars!  ;-)

    Gee ... and I always eat chocolate and have 2 boys ....
    
    Maybe this explains why most people usually have 2 of the same sex
    instead of 1 of each!!

    Chinese say, if you want a boy, the wife should have lots of
    vegetables and the husband should have meats.  Reverse it,
    you will have a girl.
    
    Wendy 

    re .14
    That's the way we eat normally and our first was a boy! This second
    pregnancy I crave red meat so maybe that will make it different?!
    

I didn't read all the replies here so someone might
have already said it but,

A woman (the egg) does not determine the sex of the
child; the man (the sperm) does.  The sperm carries
a sex chromosome that's either X (girl) or Y (boy)
whereas the egg only carries an X (girl) sex
chromosome.

Kyra

    
    re. 16
    
    Yes, the male carries the X and Y, but
    the medium in which the sperms "swim"
    affect which sperm (X or Y) gets to the egg
    first. That is what people are trying to
    have control over.
    
    
    Eva

    .16
    
    From what I understand...the X (girl) lives longer than the Y (boy). 
    You can control (to a degree) the environment the sperm live in by
    the acid in the female.  If you ovulate 2 days (for example) after
    sex, most likely the Y have already died off and you would most
    likely have a girl.  If the conditions are not right for the X to
    live that long and the Y has died, you may not get pregnant at all.
                                   
    I think you need to 'try' the day you ovulate for best odds of a
    boy...and visa versa...
    
    Such an iffy science, huh?  
    
    

    I think some recent research indicates that some environmental and
    perhaps dietary factors change the lining of the ovum, so that at
    some times it's easier to penetrate than others, and perhaps that
    it's easier for the x-sperm than for the y-sperm to penetrate. 
    
    One type has a round head and the other has a pointy head, but I
    don't remember which one is which.  I was able to view living
    sperm (rats, I think it was, not people) under a microscope when I
    was in college and it was pretty neat -- the x's and y's were
    REALLY easy to tell apart.  But the sample we were watching didn't
    penetrate the egg.  One of the other lab groups got to watch a
    fertilization. 
    
    --bonnie

The y-sperm is pointy and the x-sperm is round.  (Now, just where in my memory
did that come from?  I swear, I can't remember my own phone number, but I can
remember all kinds of stuff like that...).

Is anyone out there in Parenting-land familiar with the process of Gender-
Selection?  By this I mean the processes followed to "try" to assure con-
ception of one gender over another.

I know many years ago there was an article in a woman's magazine about it and
was curious if anyone had that article or could recommend reading on this
subject.

Also, has anyone tried it and what were your results?  I had a friend who 
followed the article to the letter to conceive a boy (along with a request for
divine intervention) and sure enough, she got her son.

Thanks
-sandy 

 Sandy,

	There is a book with the title :  "How to choose the sex of your baby"
  I don't recall the author's name but you would be able to find it at any
  bookstore. I will get the Author's name for you tomorrow. I didn't follow
  the book myself, I just thought it was a very interesting book to have. I had 
  bought it before I was trying for my first baby... 

    After s*x stand on your head.  
    
    
    You'll have a boy.
    
    Didn't try it 
    
    Couldn't tell ya
    
    Katrina