It seems that the previous few generations didn’t really concern themselves too much with preconception gender selection  than people do today. Sure they might have had a giggle at the funny, crazy theories about selecting the sex of your baby that have been passed down from time immemorial but in the end most people seemed happy with the surprise aspect of birth.

Why people are interested in gender selection now may be because people are having less children so they focus more attention it. And more is known about the reproductive process these days so some real information can be given to people.

To begin with, it is fairly well known that the male sperm determines the sex of the child. The x chromosome of the female egg can join with the x or y chromosome of the male sperm to create a baby. If the male sperm is a y chromosome then the child will be a boy. Otherwise it will be a girl.

So if you want a baby boy then you have to hope that the egg joins with a male sperm. And the opposite if you want a girl. There are many theories and methods that advise how you can do this. These methods fall into 2 categories (and often combine all three for the best results.)

The first methods suggest the types of foods you should eat before intercourse. This is thought to increase the chances of male sperm being produced and creating conditions inside the womb of the woman that are more conducive to male sperm (which are weaker than female sperm).

The second method focuses on the positions in which you have intercourse. Again, although there is never any guarantee, the easier you make it to allow the sperm to reach the egg, the more chance you have of conceiving a baby boy.

One method that is quite an elaborate and expensive step is the Ericsson method. This method does what is known as sperm sifting to find male or female sperm. This sperm is then used to fertilize the egg.