Category: Gender Prediction

There are many different ways that people have used, in the past, to try to predict their baby’s gender. From the famous “Drano” test to looking at how your baby is carried, most of these techniques for determining gender, while they may be fun to discuss, aren’t going to necessarily be accurate. The fact of the matter is that any given method of predicting your baby’s gender has a 50% chance of being correct, as there are only two genders to pick from. One of the ways that people have used to try to determine their baby’s gender is to think about their morning sickness.

There are those who think that severe morning sickness indicates a boy, while less or no morning sickness would indicate that you are going to have a girl. The reasoning behind this is that boys tend to be more “difficult” or “sour” than girls, and thereby cause problems with the woman’s belly. Of course, there are also those on the other side of things that think that severe morning sickness means that you are going to have a girl. Even among the myths about gender, there isn’t exactly complete agreement.

There are other myths beyond morning sickness about how to determine your baby’s gender. For many years it was actually believed in the medical community that gender could be determined by the heart rate of your baby. If your baby’s heart rate was more than 140 beats per minute, it was thought that you were going to have a boy. Recent scientific studies, however, have proven that this just isn’t necessarily the case. There is not a measurable difference in the heart rate of boys or girls while still in the womb.

There is, really, one effective way to determine your baby’s gender, and that is with an ultrasound. By locating the genitals on an ultrasound, the ultrasound technician or health care provider can determine your baby’s gender. In this regard, it is important to know whether the person using the ultrasound actually sees the labia, if they believe it to be a girl. Not seeing a penis is not enough to be certain that your baby will be a boy.

 

If you’re like most parents-to-be, you just can’t wait for that 20-week ultrasound that will let you know, with almost certain accuracy, whether you’re having a boy or a girl. And, while Chinese gender prediction calendars and wedding ring tests might be fun to look at, there is, of course, no science behind them.

That doesn’t leave us with much, of course. There are a few factors that seem to be related to whether you’re having a girl that you can consider, however. Let’s take a look at some statistical reasons that suggest you might be more likely to conceive a girl:

• You’re both 40 years old or over. Older couples are more likely to have a girl than a boy, by about a margin of 52% to 48%. It’s thought that this is because of changing hormones, and of the nature of female sperm and its ability to make the journey to fertilize an egg, which can be more difficult as we age.

• You have severe morning sickness. This one sounds like an old wives’ tale, and to be sure the theory didn’t start in science. However, a review of several studies on hyperemesis gravidarum (severe morning sickness) showed that 55% of women who suffered from the condition had girls, while the rest had boys. This may be related to high levels of estrogen, which is thought to influence morning sickness.

• You’re from a tropical climate and conceive your baby there. One study looked at birth data from around the world and showed that a greater percentage of girls are born in the region around the earth’s equator than anywhere else. Researchers aren’t sure, but this could be related to levels of melatonin or the temperature of the region altering the survival quality of male or female sperm.

• The male partner’s job includes high stress. Several studies have looked at high stress jobs, including deep sea divers, professional drivers, submarine technicians and pilots and discovered that more girls are born to men who work in these professions.

Of course, the best way to know whether you’re having a girl is that faithful ultrasound. In the meantime, you can use some of these factors to try to make an educated baby gender prediction.

This baby gender prediction method has been around for decades, and makes it’s rounds regularly on the web as a potential way to find out what gender your baby is.

The recipe to test this method is below, but it is NOT advisable that you try it as it produces very toxic fumes and the results are unreliable.

The drano / draino gender test should be performed after the 4 month of pregnancy.

This test must be performed outside in a glass / jar that holds can hold twice as much urine as you use as there is a bubbling, smelly, and caustic chemical reaction when you add your urine to the crystal drano.

What is needed for the Drano / Draino Gender Prediction Test:

• Approximately 2 tablespoons of CRYSTAL Drano

• Medium glass or glass jar. It is best to just throw the mixing glass away after performing this test.
• Two to Three ounces of urine, preferably the first morning urine.

Take the test materials outside. Add your urine to the glass jar with the crystal drano in it. There will be a rapid chemical reaction and it is best to stay well away from the glass jar while the fumes are being produced.

When the reaction stops, observe the color of the test.

If the mixture darkens to a brownish color within the first 10 seconds – It is a boy.

If there is no darkening or color change after 10 – 15 seconds – It is a girl.

When you are done, you will need to carefully dispose of the mixture as it will have a very bad smell and still be very caustic.

The color results above are not very reliable as you will find many different variations of the colors in the results with people interpretting them all differently. This is not a reliable way to determine the gender of your baby, and could have serious side effects to the mom to be if the fumes are inhaled or the mixture gets on the skin. NOT RECOMMENDED as a baby gender prediction method.

 

As long as there has been pregnancy, there have been parents who wanted to figure out their baby’s gender. While the story doesn’t expressly say so, you can almost picture Adam and Eve wondering whether their first baby would be a boy or a girl (spoiler: it’s a boy).

It kind of makes you wonder how long it took mankind to start trying to figure out ways of predicting babies’ gender. Until recent advances in ultrasound technology made gender prediction fairly accurate, it was impossible to know for sure whether you needed to buy pink paint or blue for the nursery. Still, that didn’t stop people from trying.

Was there some merit to ancient gender prediction methods, or were they all just old wives’ tales? We would be the first to acknowledge that they aren’t foolproof ways of predicting babies’ gender. Still, the fact that they have been believed by enough people for long enough to become part of our folklore would suggest that there is at least some merit to them. Even if there isn’t, it can be fun to use them to try to guess your baby’s gender.

Some of the more common wives’ tales used to predict babies’ genders are:

• Examining how the baby sets. According to tradition, if you’re carrying your baby mostly in your hips, you are most likely having a girl. If you’re carrying more out front in the tummy, you’re likely having a boy.
• Pendulum method. This method, which originated among gypsies, is likely superstition. Still, some believe that you can attach a ring, needle, or other pendulum to a thread and use it to predict gender. To do so, lie on your back and have someone hold the makeshift pendulum over your tummy. If it swings back and forth (like a typical pendulum), it’s a boy. If it swings in circles, it’s a girl.
• Birth calendar. Chinese have traditionally believed that baby genders can be predicted using a birth calendar. These calendars (which can be readily found online) compare the mother’s age and the month of conception to determine your baby’s gender. Some claim as much as 90% accuracy. Of course, they generally also include a disclaimer stating that they are for entertainment purposes only.

Of course, if you want to know your baby’s gender for sure, your best bet these days is an ultrasound. Besides the fact that these are the most accurate at determining babies’ gender, they are generally provided as a normal part of prenatal care.

 

The fetal heart rate will change during the second trimester, just as it changes throughout the various stages of pregnancy. In fact, the fetal heart rate can change on a moment-by-moment basis, in response to various stimuli or various conditions that can be affecting your baby. While your baby’s heart rate does tend to spike briefly around the age of ten weeks of pregnancy, by the time that the second trimester rolls around, your baby’s heart rate will not change much until after your baby is born.

The fetal heart rate can, typically, be heard at around eight to ten weeks of pregnancy, depending on the mother’s body size and the method used to find the fetal heart rate, whether a transvaginal ultrasound or a Doppler or some other method. At around the tenth week of pregnancy, roughly three weeks before the second trimester begins, the fetal heart rate will peak at around 175 beats per minute. By week fifteen, which is during the very early part of the second trimester, the fetal heart rate will have dropped down to around 140 beats per minute.

It was once thought that the fetal heart rate could predict your baby’s gender. It was thought that, if a baby’s heart rate was under 140 beats per minute that it would be a boy, and that if it was over 140 beats per minute it would be a girl. The theory behind this idea was that, because women usually have a higher metabolic rate than men, that unborn girls would have a slightly higher pulse rate than unborn boys. However, most research does seem to disprove this idea, and demonstrate that there is not necessarily a connection between the fetal heart rate and the gender of your baby.

If you have concerns about your fetal heart rate, you should speak with your health care provider. Your health care provider can help to interpret what a high or a low fetal heart rate might mean, as well as help to figure out if it indicates some sort of a problem that will need to be addressed.

Most expectant parents are anxious to know the sex of their baby. In addition to being able to prepare emotionally and mentally, telling the sex of your baby ahead of time will be beneficial in everything from how you register for your baby shower to how you decorate your baby’s room. Still, it can be difficult to tell the sex of your baby if you aren’t looking at the right way of knowing.

There are a variety of myths that purport to tell the sex of your baby. There is no scientific evidence that a fast heart rate, for example, indicates a girl more than a boy. There is nothing that proves that mixing Drano with your urine and watching the results will be able to tell the sex of your baby, either. In fact, there are really only a couple of truly reliable methods for telling the sex of your baby.

One reliable way to tell the sex of your baby is through genetic testing. This may take the form of CVS (chorionic villus sampling) or an amniocentesis. CVS si typically done between weeks 10 and 13 of pregnancy, while amniocentesis is done between weeks 14 and 20. Generally speaking, however, these genetic tests are not done solely for the purpose of telling the sex of your baby. Usually, these sorts of genetic tests are done to see if there is a problem with your baby, or in rare cases, to establish paternity. Being able to tell the sex of your baby is an added benefit to these tests.

The most common way to tell the sex of your baby is with an ultrasound. An ultrasound technician can help to recognize and locate either the penis or the labia, as the case may be, on the ultrasound. Generally speaking, an ultrasound is around 90% accurate at telling the sex of your baby. Having said that, there are a variety of factors, such as the ultrasound technician’s skill and experience that can impact the accuracy of an ultrasound in telling the sex of your baby.

The modern age is an interesting time, in terms of ethics. The fact of the matter is that advances in science, especially in the medical field, create a variety of ethical questions that have not been encountered in the past. One of the areas of controversy has surrounded the issue of gender selection, and whether or not gender selection is ethical. Your answer to the question of whether gender selection is ethical will vary based on your religious beliefs, your background, and your opinions about other issues, as well.

Some consider gender selection ethical in all cases. They view the advances in medicine to be useful for any number of purposes, including such relatively mundane purposes as choosing to have a child of a specific gender. The reasoning for wanting a child of a specific gender is irrelevant, they argue. The fact that the science is available means that it ought to be used.

There are some that argue that gender selection is ethical in certain cases. For example, if a family has a history of same-sex diseases that are hereditary, it may seem more humane to spare a child the risk of having this genetic disease by selecting the gender. Those that support this position argue that, at least in this case, gender selection is not only ethical, but that, given the opportunity, not selecting the gender would actually be unethical.

There are those that argue that gender selection is, inherently, unethical. They argue that gender selection may be used for sexist purposes, for example. They suggest that a society that prefers to have male children might wind up having a disproportionate number of men, and may even wind up seeing women as a failed result. They also may argue that genetic manipulation of any sort is, by its very nature, against the laws of ethics. They may suggest that it reeks of the genetic experiments conducted under the Nazis, for example.

Carefully weighing the question of whether gender selection is ethical is an important exercise, especially for couples to whom it is a choice because of needing In Vitro Fertilization.

 

If you ask your parents or grandparents, they will probably they will probably tell you that there was a time when expectant parents had to wait for the big day when baby made her (or his) grand entrance to find out the gender of their new baby. These days, most of us find out our baby’s gender during ultrasounds in the second trimester. As imaging improves, gender predictions are quite accurate.

But who says you need to wait until the second trimester to accurately predict whether you should be shopping for pink wallpaper or blue paint? Not the Chinese. The Chinese have been using gender prediction methods for thousands of years. Some claim they have over 90% accuracy.

The primary method used for early gender prediction is the Chinese gender prediction calendar. The version most often used was discovered in a royal tomb in the 1300s. The calendar is believed to have been developed by ancient Chinese scientists. There is some disagreement regarding how long the gender prediction calendar has been in use. Many suggest that the Chinese have been using gender prediction calendars for 7,000 years or more. Others suggest that the practice is somewhat more recent. In any case, Chinese have used the calendar for no less than 700 years.

When Chinese emigrated to the West, they brought the gender prediction calendar with them. While many Western people view it with suspicion, or see it as being entertaining, many others have come to embrace gender prediction calendars, along with other Eastern health care practices.

How It Works

To use a Chinese gender prediction calendar, you need to know the age of the mother in years at the time of conception and the lunar month at the time of conception. With these two pieces of information, you consult the gender prediction calendar. Proponents claim that you can predict the gender of your baby by cross referencing the age of the mother and the month at the time of conception.

Uses

Historically, the Chinese people have always preferred to have male offspring. Culturally, this was considered more prestigious. Historically, it was also more practical in a largely agrarian society.

Because many Chinese couples preferred to have boys, many would use the Chinese gender prediction calendar pro-actively. Essentially, they would consult the calendar to see when their best chances of conceiving a girl were. By saving sexual intercourse for those times, they believed that they would improve their chances of bearing sons. Presumably, the same method could be used if someone wanted to conceive a daughter.  

 

Trying to guess whether you’re going to have a boy or a girl can be fun, at times. There are plenty of myths and old wives’ tales that can keep you busy and guessing for hours on end. Every one of these tests and guessing methods is accurate – half of the time.

Let’s take a look at some of the more unscientific methods of baby gender prediction, and start to separate some of the myth from reality:

• Carrying position. This method of baby gender prediction says that if you’re carrying your baby low in the belly, you’re going to have a girl. If it’s high, it’s a boy. It’s false, of course; where you carry your baby is based on your muscles, your baby’s position, the shape of your body, and the amount of pregnancy weight you gain.
• Heart rate. Repeated studies have shown that there is no difference in fetal heart rate that’s based on gender – at least during early pregnancy. There is a single study that suggests that a female heart rate will beat faster than a male’s heart rate after 30 weeks of pregnancy, but this data hasn’t been confirmed via additional research.
• Swinging your ring. This one is a fun one to do at a baby shower, but there is obviously no science involved here. You’re supposed to hang your wedding ring from a strand of hair graciously donated by the baby’s father. If the ring rocks back and forth, it’s a boy. If it moves in a circular motion, it’s a girl.
• Drano. This one isn’t only unscientific, it can be dangerous. Variations of this one exist. The idea is to stir a sample of your urine into some Drano. If the mix turns green in color, you’re going to have a boy. Drano is a caustic chemical, however, and not particularly safe to breathe during pregnancy. Avoid this one if you can.
• Craving sweets. The idea here is that if you crave sweets during pregnancy, you’re going to have a boy. Crave sour foods, and it’s going to be a girl. The truth is that if you’re craving anything at all, it has to do with changing hormones and/or a greater sense of smell that exists during pregnancy.

While some of these are fun, there’s no real scientific proof that any of them work. Your best bet s to see what the ultrasound says at 18-20 weeks.

Related articles

• Let’s play a few old wives’ games! (tccisttc.wordpress.com)
• How To Have a Baby a Girl (babyhopes.com)