Dr. Landrum Shettles commanded a reputation mixed with accolades and condemnation in the field of conception medicine. He was an innovative doctor with cutting edge ideas, on the other hand, he was criticized and ostracized for his work regarding test tube babies. Dr. Shettles rose to infamy from his best selling book titled as “How to Choose the Sex of Your Baby”, which was published in the 1960s. The theories contained in this book revolutionized the world of conception science. There are two core basic and fundamental theories behind this ideas of Dr. Shettles, one that of the swimming characteristics of the sperm and the second being the timing of the ovulation. Here we will examine both of the theories with more depth.
Sperm can behave very differently depending upon their genetic makeup. The Y chromosome sperm (male sperm) can swim faster, but the X chromosome sperm (female sperm) can better withstand the acidic environment of the vagina. You can take advantage of these differences when trying to conceive a child of a particular gender.
Ejaculating deeper into the vagina will shorten the sperm’s journey and give the ones carrying Y chromosomes a better chance of surviving long enough to fertilize the egg, while having sex days before ovulation will give the more durable X chromosome sperm time to be able to reach the egg for conception.
When trying to figure out how to conceive a boy or girl, timing plays a major role. Having already gone into the details of the various characteristics of sperm, it is important to focus on the act of love making and how it relates to conception. If you want to determine how to have a boy, the best technique would be to monitor your ovulation cycles. This can be done with the help of either cervical mucus monitoring or by an OTC ovulation kit.
For conceiving a baby boy, try to have sex as close to your ovulation as possible. Having the male to ejaculate to the deepest extent possible so as to deliver the sperm as close to the cervix, thus allowing for a shorter trip to fertilize the egg. A female orgasm, if attainable will help in the stabilization of the alkaline levels in the vaginal canal resulting in a more stable environment for the Y chromosome sperm.
On the other hand, for the conception of a baby girl, try to time the sex to a few days prior to ovulation, with the theory in mind that in the days leading to the ovulation the Y chromosome sperm would die off and thus leaving behind female generating only X chromosomes to fertilize the ovulation of the egg.
The method innovated by Dr. Shettles is not fool proof. In the end, there is no such way to guarantee a particular type of sex of a potential baby. The steps explained by the doctor can be of help to the prospective parents to turn the tables in their favor but ultimately it all depends upon mother nature. Don’t forget to have fun, leave the anxiety about the rest and let it happen in a natural way.
