A critical look at natural gender selection methods

Did you know that only 17 percent of couples who are trying to get pregnant do not have a preference for their baby's gender? If you too, for whatever reason, would love to conceive specifically a boy or a girl, you may be among the many people who look into natural gender selection methods, such as the Shettles method.

The Shettles method is a technique that has been used for a long time now. Dr Shettles, who invented the method, claimed that sperm move at different paces depending on the chromosome they carry. Dr Shettles claimed that timing intercourse in relation to the date of ovulation allows people who are hoping for a baby to influence the odds in their favor for conceiving a baby of their chosen gender. It looks promising to couples who are hoping for either a boy or a girl, and many try this method.

There are also other, less popular methods, that promise to swing the chances of getting pregnant with a baby of your selected gender in your favor. These methods are often highly contradictory. They include the Whelan method, O+12 (for a girl) and the Chinese gender selection method.

Research has been conducted into the functionality of the Shettles method, and studies have not been able to come up with the same numbers Dr Shettles says he found. In fact, some couples using this method couldn't get pregnant at all! Researchers at the New England Journal of Medicine found that timing of intercourse didn't have anything to do with the baby's gender last decade, and other studies confirmed that.

Of course, you will be able to find plenty of parents who say Shettles and other methods of gender manipulation worked for them. After all, conceiving the baby of your chosen gender is quite likely around 50 percent! The conclusion? These methods are highly unlikely to do anything, except maybe lessen your chances of conceiving at all.