Gender Selection

None of these methods are proven to be 100% effective; in fact most are folklore. But it can’t hurt to try!

If you're hoping for a boy...
Shettles Method:
• Have intercourse (with deeper penetration) right around ovulation.
• Go for a female orgasm.

Folklore includes:
• Consume salty food and red meat.
• Have intercourse around a quarter moon.
• Men should keep down the heat and avoid hot tubs and tight clothes.

If you're hoping for a girl...
Shettles Method:
• Have intercourse 2-3 days prior to ovulation, and again two days after ovulation (with shallow penetration).
• Hold off on a female orgasm.

Folklore includes:
• Consume sweets and calcium-rich foods.
• Have intercourse around a full moon.

Food for Thought
It is thought that minerals in your diet affect the metabolism and environment of the egg and therefore make it more attractive to sperm of one particular sex. If you want a boy, eat plenty of potassium-rich foods such as meat, bananas, apricots, and celery. If you want a girl, lots of magnesium-rich foods such as nuts, soya beans, and leafy green vegetables should do the trick.

While some couples swear by gender selection methods, others say that there is no certain way to choose the sex of your baby. No matter which theory you believe, there is one definite: you and your partner will have fun trying out the various methods!

Study results from http://www.ivf1.com/diet-gender-selection/
The only significant finding was that a woman's diet before conception seemed to be associated with the gender of the baby born. Specifically, women who ate a greater amount of food were more likely to have a male baby. Food intake was measured by total number of calories consumed. Women who were in the highest third for calories consumed were 1.5 times more likely to have a boy compared to women who were in the lowest third.

Researchers then sought to determine whether a specific food or nutrient was influential in determining the gender of the baby. The interesting result was that breakfast cereal was strongly associated with infant sex. Women producing male infants ate more breakfast cereal on average than women who produced female infants. Women who ate at least one bowl of breakfast cereal daily were 1.87 times more likely to have a boy compared to women who ate one or less bowls of cereal per week.

These results could not be due to an overall skewing in the sex ratio since overall about 1/2 the babies were boys and 1/2 were girls. Furthermore, the age of the mother was not linked with the likelihood of having a boy or girl. The weight of the mother also did not predict the gender of the baby.