Choosing genders: Eating for a boy...or a girl?

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By Amanda Fornecker

Many families with three or four children of the same sex attempt to round out their family with a new child of the opposite sex. But how can you be sure that you will get the gender you desire? Most say it's probably impossible to do so, however, new studies and programs are showing that a woman's diet can affect the sex of their baby. Is there truth to this wives' tale-like notion?

Pre-Conception Diet
BoyGirlDiet.com ensures a 96 percent success rate (hey, nothing's perfect) with their program to use the Pre-Conceptional Sex Selection Method. For just $59, you'll receive the boy or girl diet program details that you should follow at least four to six weeks prior to your desired month of conception. Once you're pregnant, you should discontinue this diet and follow your physician's suggestions.

Similarly, a study was recently done in the UK, funded by the Sir Jules Thorn Charitable Trust, and was written about in The Telegraph. The study says that a woman who eats a heartier breakfast and essentially adds 400 calories to her diet each day (equivalent to an extra meal), will increase her chances of having a boy. Whether this is true or not, remains to be seen, but the study was conducted on 721 British women who became pregnant for the first time. They kept daily food diaries and recorded their general eating habits. But is this theory really effective?

Dr. Jason Rubin doesn't think so. "There does seem to be some supportive evidence, but the effect was fairly small," he says. Dr. Rubin is a board-certified family practitioner with broad experience in many different areas, including emergency medicine, obstetrics, pediatrics, and dermatology.

Dr. Rubin doesn't believe that there is a need to change your diet dramatically before looking to get pregnant. "I wouldn’t recommend altering your diet as a method to select the baby’s gender," he says. "Abnormal intake of calories, vitamins, or minerals might lead to other problems with conception and early embryonic development so it's better to concentrate on eating a well-balanced, nutritious diet that will promote the best health of your baby—no matter what the gender is."

Dr. Paul C. Magarelli feels the same way. "Based on my knowledge of biology and genetics, the thought that food would influence which sperm penetrates an egg is a rather spurious association," he says. Dr. Magarelli is the founder and director of Reproductive Medicine and Fertility Centers in Colorado Springs and Albuquerque, NM.

Importance of Good Nutrition
Like Dr. Rubin, Dr Magarelli says that nutrition is very important before and during pregnancy. "Nutrition plays a paramount role in the health of couples attempting conception," he says. "Alcohol, tobacco, and street drugs impact both sperm and eggs. The role of oxidation in the destruction of sperm has been demonstrated and antioxidants found in high quality vitamins are certainly important in sperm health. The eggs are a non-renewable resource and diet certainly can impact, negatively on the egg and the fetus. Prenatal vitamins with additional folic acid are very important pre-conception."

Other Methods
So what can be done? For one, an unhealthy dieting regimen should not be followed, they agree. Dr. Rubin warns, " Severely malnourished pregnant women are more likely to have problems such as miscarriage, low birth weights, or birth defects. Radical weight loss regimens can deplete the body of vitamins, minerals, and electrolytes necessary for normal fetal development."

Dr. Rubin also offers up that couples practice the Shettles Method, which entails conception closer to the time of ovulation for boy babies. "The research behind this method is questionable - some studies support it and others show no effect. Whether it works or not, it should be perfectly safe," he says.

Dr. Magarelli says there are two different methods that may be able to help the success of choosing one sex over another. "There are two technologies: sperm sorting (sorting out the X from the Y containing sperm) and Preimplantation Genetic Screening of embryos. Both technologies should yield immensely better selection of the desired sex for family balancing."

And no matter what method you choose to conceive, both doctors agree to always keep in mind that the most important thing is the health of the baby.

Read more:

• Are you having boy or girl? Chinese Gender Chart
• Timing of pregnancy may predict baby's gender
• Boy or Girl? Women having infertility treatments want to choose
  

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