How To Conceive a Certain Gender

If you and your partner have decided to start a family, congratulations! This is a huge decision, and now that you’re both ready for this significant life change, the fun can begin. 🙂 If at least one of you secretly hopes for a certain gender, there’s nothing wrong with that, and it’s normal! For generations, women have been exchanging ideas for increasing their chances of conceiving a boy or a girl. Unfortunately, no medical evidence shows that any of these tips work. Bummer, I know. But it doesn’t hurt to try, right? Right! So, if you want to try to conceive a certain gender over the other, here are some fun suggestions and old wives’ tales to give a go while practicing the fun.

How To Improve Your Chances of Conceiving a Girl

Here we go! These tips just might help you conceive a girl:

1. Timing Is Everything

According to The Shettles Method developed by Dr. Landrum Shettles in the 1960s, X-chromosome (female) sperm swim slower than Y-chromosome (male) sperm and live longer than male sperm.¹ Because of this, you don’t want to wait until you’re ovulating if you want to conceive a girl. You will want to plan to do the deed two or more days before you ovulate so that the male sperm will die off before reaching the egg.

2. Chinese Lunar Calendar

This is an ancient tool many women have used, and it’s supposedly more than 90% accurate. Awesome! Using the Chinese Lunar Calendar below, you want to actively conceive on the months that say you’ll conceive a girl. To make it easier on yourself, visit our Chinese gender calendar and calculator for your prediction!

3. Don’t Orgasm

I know, I know. That’s no fun. But it’s been said that women’s orgasms move sperm closer to the cervix. Since male sperm travel faster, this can give male sperm a head start to the egg. It does suck, but he can make it up to you once you become pregnant. 😉

4. Make Love More Often

It’s believed that the more often you have sex with your partner, the lower his sperm count will be. This increases your chances of the female sperm reaching the egg first. Not only that, but also make sure to keep penetration shallow. Think about keeping things romantic and making love softly and sweetly. Certain positions (like the missionary position) may strengthen the chances of conceiving a girl.

5. Diet Changes

Eating certain foods can potentially improve your chances of having a girl.⁵ Salt is supposedly not good for trying to conceive a girl, so remove salt from your diet.⁶ Here’s a list of things to eat and not eat:

• DO: Drink milk and eat dairy products such as cheese and yogurt.⁷ Eat unsalted foods, certain vegetables, rice, pasta, mineral water, limited meat, and potatoes.
• DON’T: Avoid wine, beer, salt, salty foods, spinach, tomatoes, mushrooms, fresh fruit, chocolate, coffee, and tea.

6. Tighty Whities, Please

Have your partner wear boxer briefs or tighty whities and tight pants to keep his genitals closer to his body. The temperature of the testes is the issue. Since the temperature of the testes must be lower than the core body temperature, the closer it is to the body, the warmer it gets, and the lower sperm count he will have.⁸ This may increase your chances of conceiving a girl.

7. Random

A random old wives’ tale also says that you should make love in the afternoon and on even days of the month to conceive a girl.

How To Improve Your Chances of Conceiving a Boy

Now, here’s how you might be able to conceive a boy:

1. Track Your Ovulation

Since male sperm travel faster and don’t live as long as female sperm, have sex on the day of ovulation.¹

2. Less Sex

You want your partner to have a high sperm count, so if you have sex frequently, this is dropping that number. It’s believed that male sperm isn’t as strong as female sperm. The higher the sperm count, the more chance a male sperm reaches the egg first. So, avoid sex for a week before ovulation, and only have sex once on ovulation day to keep the sperm count high. And make sure he’s staying away from saunas and hot tubs.⁸

3. Have an Orgasm BEFORE Your Partner Does

When women orgasm, it releases an alkaline fluid, which is thought to be more male-sperm friendly since it lessens the vagina’s natural acidity and helps bring sperm closer to the cervix.⁹ So, make sure he holds off so that you can orgasm before he does.

4. Acidic-Free Diet

As said earlier, acidic conditions supposedly kill male sperm. You might want to try an alkaline diet a few weeks before conception.¹⁰ Also, increasing your sodium and potassium intake is suggested for those trying to conceive boys.^10,11

Things to eat: salty food, lots of meat, fish, white flour, pasta, and fresh fruit (see also: 8 foods to help conceive a boy)

5. Say No to Cardio

You read that right! You can slow down on the cardio. You’re welcome. It’s been said that weight loss sways more toward baby girls. So, hit the weights to maintain your weight and muscle mass.

6. Make Your Bedroom a Red Room

Yes, I’m referring to “Fifty Shades Of Grey.” It’s believed that when a couple has wilder sex and is in positions that provide deeper penetration (like doggy-style), this gives the faster male sperm a head start since these positions are closer to the cervix.⁹

7. Caffeine

Drink up, dads! Have your partner drink a caffeinated beverage before you guys have sex. It’s thought to make the male sperm more active.¹²

8. Boxers, Not Briefs

Your partner needs to keep his genitals cool by wearing boxer shorts and loose-fitting trousers to keep the testis’ temperature lower to improve the quantity and quality of sperm.^8,13

9. No Smoking or Drinking

If your partner drinks and smokes, it’s time to stop. Men who smoke and drink heavily are likelier to have a low sperm count, lowering your chances of conception, especially with a boy. Additionally, marijuana has been shown to have a similar effect as cigarettes regarding sperm count.² Although, a recent study shows marijuana may increase sperm count in males.^3,4 Cocaine and other hard drugs are also known to lower sperm production.¹⁴

10. Random

A random old wives’ tale also says that you should make love at night and on odd days of the month to conceive a boy.

Did you try any of these tips to conceive a certain gender? Did they work for you? We want to know!