Is it truly possible to pick the gender of your baby before you conceive it? Well, the answer is an unscientific yes and no. There are several thoughts on conceiving a particular gender - none of which have been scientifically or medically proven. However, for the advocates of such thought, they stand firmly on the results. Choosing to conceive either a boy or a girl is not a guarantee - but it might be a fun way of going about the task - just to see if it works or not. The Shettles method claims that female sperm swim slower and live longer than male sperm. Therefore, if you want a girl, have intercourse several days before ovulation - that way the slower, longer living female sperm will be waiting for the egg when it pops out. For a boy, wait until ovulation day - the faster male sperm will beat the female sperm to the egg. With the Shettles method - charting your fertility signs are a must - you must pinpoint the exact day of ovulation in order for the method to work. And remember that sperm can live up to 5 days in good quality "fertile" cervical fluid.

Shettles also states that female sperm are more conducive in an acidic environment - therefore douching with a weakened solution of water and vinegar immediately before intercourse will help the female sperm. Douching with water and baking soda will help the male sperm. I would caution about douching before intercourse simply for the fact that you may wash all of your fertile quality cervical fluid out - thereby defeating the purpose of conception. Talk to your healthcare provider for advice on douching.

Orgasm is another area that can predict in choosing the sex of the baby. According to Shettles, having an orgasm during intercourse will increase the chances of having a boy and not having an orgasm will increase the chances of having a girl. This has some error in it - as I'm sure there are countless women out there who had an orgasm at conception and conceived both boys and girls.

There is also the Chinese prediction calendar - which claims that on certain months you will conceive a boy or a girl. It depends on your age at conception and on the month that conception occurred. You can look at a Chinese Calendar to plan ahead if you want a certain gender. You should have intercourse around ovulation on the months that says

you will conceive the gender you want and avoiding intercourse on the months that the chart says you will conceive the opposite of what you want. According to the ancient Chinese conception chart - the month I conceived my son - I should have conceived a daughter and when I conceived my daughter - the chart was right. This time around it claimed I'd have a boy and I now have another girl! So for me the chart was right one time out of three. I wouldn't throw all my stock into this method of prediction.

Whether or not you "try" to go for a boy or a girl - just remember that ultimately it is a 50% chance of having either one. I have heard of cases where the parents tried the methods mentioned above and gave birth to the opposite. So keep light-hearted about the process and set your sights on expecting a healthy BABY.