Ask the Childbirth Educator: Conceiving a Boy

I’d love to get some tips on conceiving a boy. We already have two girls and would love a third and would love to add a boy to our beautiful family. I would love some ideas to help.

Linda

You may have come across something called the Shettles Method, developed by Landrum B. Shettles in the 1960s and which was publicized in the book, How to Choose the Sex of Your Baby (1971). By following the various methods outlined in the book, it is proposed that a couple can affect the probability of having a boy or a girl. Proponents claim between 75 and 90 percent effectiveness, but I am afraid that research does not support these claims. In a 1995 article in the New England Journal of Medicine entitled Timing of Sexual Intercourse in Relation to Ovulation – Effects on the Probability of Conception, Survival of the Pregnancy, and Sex of the Baby the authors concluded that “for practical purposes, the timing of sexual intercourse in relation to ovulation has no influence on the sex of the baby.

While there might not be any scientific evidence to back up the Shettles Method, on the plus side, there is no harm trying I suppose! Good luck and let me know how you go!

Tanya Strusberg

Lamaze Certified Childbirth Educator

Tanya was born and raised in Hong Kong to Australian parents. She moved to

Australia in 1995 and worked for a number of years as an arts marketing

specialist before moving to Israel in 2006.

Tanya trained to become a Lamaze Certified Childbirth Educator (LCCE) in

Israel through the Douglas College Perinatal Program in Vancouver, Canada.

She studied with renowned childbirth educator Rachelle Oseran BA, FACCE,

LCCE, CD(DONA) who has over 29 years of experience in the field of perinatal

education.

Tanya and her husband moved to Melbourne with their two children Liev and

Amalia in February 2012. As the only LCCE in Australia, Tanya is excited to