Boy or Girl: Should You Choose the Sex of Your Child?

By Virginia Gilbert

Family balancing is the most common reason couples employ gender selection techniques. The Genetics and IVF Institute reports that 90 percent of the couples using their Microsort technology were in their mid-30s, had two to three children of the same sex and desired only one more child -- of the opposite sex. Interestingly, more than half of these couples wanted girls. This preference, however, extends beyond the Institute's findings. Two recent studies of people using gender selection techniques found that a slight majority of both Americans and Britains crave sugar and spice and everything nice.

Cruise the online gender determination message boards, and you'll see that pink is indeed the color du jour. Sample message headings include: "I want a little girl," "We're working on conceiving a girl as well," and "Why does everybody want girls?"

Good question. Perhaps because women in the western world have more reproductive control than ever before, they also are more influential in choosing the sex of their children. With this fundamental freedom in place, women are likelier to enjoy the experience of being women. Feeling positive about her own future, today's woman can be confident that her daughter will encounter similar and possibly better opportunities for career, love and happiness.

Kate *, 28, is expecting her first child -- a girl -- in March. Because she and her husband plan on having just one child, the couple used the Chinese Conception Chart and information in Dr. Elizabeth Whelan's book, Boy or Girl? to increase their odds of conceiving the daughter they both wanted.

Explaining her reasons for wanting a female baby, Kate says: "I think I really wanted a child of my gender so that we would have more in common. Being a woman in today's world is much easier than it must have been years ago and I think it will only get better as my daughter grows up. We can do anything we set our minds to."

Anne Maxey, a 28-year-old stay-at-home mom in Texas, used techniques covered in the book, How To Choose the Sex of Your Baby

Want to see more?

• Chinese Conception Chart
• Choosing the Sex of Your Baby Discussion Board
• Back to part one here.