THE BARMY METHODS WOMEN TRY

WANT to conceive a girl? These are the ways said to boost your chances:

THE SHETTLES METHOD

CHAMPIONED by Dr Landrum Shettles, it claims to have a 75 per cent success rate and works on the premise that timing is everything. X-chromosome (female) sperm travel slower and live longer than Y-chromosome (male) sperm. So, by the time you ovulate and release an egg, only female sperm will be left to fertilise it.

MISSIONARY POSITION

HAVING sex lying down in the man-ontop position only gives shallow penetration. Supposedly male sperm don’t survive well in acidic environments. As a woman’s vagina is more acidic nearer the entrance, deep penetration helps male sperm avoid the area.

AVOIDING CLIMAX

IT SEEMS unfair, but there are two explanations — when a woman climaxes, she releases a substance that increases alkaline levels in her vagina. As male sperm prefer alkaline environments, it gives them more

chance of survival. And orgasms help move sperm towards the cervix, so faster swimming male sperm have more chance of reaching the egg.

REGULAR SEX

HAVING lots of sex can lower your partner’s sperm count slightly, thus increasing the chance that only resilient female sperm will make it to the egg to fertilise it.

UPPING YOUR VITAMINS

EAT more leafy green vegetables, fruit and foods high in vitamin C, calcium and magnesium. These foods may alter the consistency, composition and pH of your vagina, making it friendlier to female sperm and increasing their life span.

LOW SALT DIET

SALT is thought to be bad for female sperm.

CHINESE LUNAR CYCLE

DATING back hundreds of years, the Chinese lunar calendar uses phases of the Moon to predict when you’re most likely to have a girl. Fans claim it’s 90 per cent accurate. There’s an online version at babycenter. com/ chinese-gender-predictor. But how does it work? Practitioners believe that just as the Moon influences tides, it can influence sperm, too.

INITIATE SEX

LETTING the man decide when to have sex is thought to make it more likely you’ll have a boy. But letting the woman pick the moment — and having slow, romantic sex when you do — supposedly produces more girls, as a woman is only likely to suggest sex when the time and conditions are perfect.

SLEEP ON YOUR LEFT

CENTURIES ago, it was believed if a woman slept on her left side before and after conception, she would have a girl. The theory behind it was that the right side of the womb is hotter than the left, and warmer sperm were more likely to produce a boy.