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There are 46 chromosomes that carry the complete human genetic blueprint and the sex of your baby is determined by just two of them, the X and the Y.

X or Y?

A women’s egg contains a single X chromosome and a man’s sperm can contain either an X or a Y chromosome. If a sperm carries an X chromosome (XX) the baby will be a girl, and if it carries a Y (XY) chromosome the baby will be a boy. This means that your partner’s sperm determines the sex of your child, rather than your egg (so you know who to blame when you find out you are expecting your fifth boy!) Y sperm swim faster but are smaller and don’t live as long as X sperm.

Old wives tales

There are plenty of 'old wives tales' which suggest women perform certain tasks ranging from the ridiculous; that women should sleep with meat under their mattress for a boy, or more subtle; tie a pink ribbon onto their bedsteads for a girl, but unsuprisingly none of these actually work. Changing your diet has also been rumoured to affect whether you conceive a boy or a girl because acidic foods like lemons or citrus fruits are supposed to produce more Y sperm (boys) and eating alkaline foods like dairy products are supposed to produce more X sperm (girls) but there is absolutely no scientific evidence to back this up!

No harm in trying...

Another theory is that you can affect which sex you conceive by having sex at different times, for example, sperm carrying the Y chromosome swim faster but die sooner and sperm carrying the X chromosome last longer but can't swim as fast (think:the hare and the tortoise). This means if you have sex before you ovulate, the boy sperm may swim faster but won't be able to hang around for the egg, but the girl sperm will amble more slowly and by the time they reach the egg the boy sperm have died and they are just in time for conception! So work out when you ovulate with our Ovulation calculator, then either have frequent sex on the days leading up to ovulation for a girl, or on the day or after ovulation for a boy...
Of course, this is just a theory, but there's no harm in trying!

For a girl

Make love up to two to three days before ovulation as female sperm live longer than males, so they can hang around till ovulation day.

For a boy

Make love on the day of, or just after ovulation as male sperm swim faster than female sperm so will beat them to it.

Finding out

There are plenty of old wives tales about how you can tell whether your baby is a boy or a girl, but the most accurate method is by ultrasound.  Discover how it's done, and why some hospitals won't tell you.

Let us know your thoughts on influencing the sex of your baby by posting a comment on our discussion forum. Also, tell us any old wives tales you have heard of, or if you think you had an influence in what sex your baby was.

This article was brought to you in association with Gurgle.com