Pre-Pregnancy Selection
It is often believed that conceiving a particular gender is a 50-50 chance. According to iParenting.com, a woman can increase her chances of conceiving a girl by 92 percent with enough time and money. Many couples are now seeking advanced gender selections in order to have the girl (or son) that they have always dreamed of.
The Fertility Institutes in the United States, says it can select the gender of an unborn child before the woman becomes pregnant. This process is done outside the uterus. The father supplies a collection of sperm while the mother has several eggs extracted from her body. The sperm is then used to fertilize the eggs in a laboratory. Once a few days pass, the embryos that have developed are tested to determine the gender. Depending on what gender the couple would like, the physician will insert only the embryos that match that gender back into the uterus of the woman. If the embryos implant into the lining of the uterus, pregnancy is achieved.
Sperm Spinning
Another method is called sperm spinning. This process was founded by Dr. Beth Ary in 1995 and is one of the more inexpensive methods of gender selection. Sperm are washed and spun, which removes the less-mobile sperm from the collection. The physician will then tag each sperm as either X-bearing (which indicates a girl) or Y-bearing (which indicates a boy). Insemination is then timed according to what gender is selected. According to Dr. Ary, when selecting a male, the chance is 60 percent. When selecting a female gender, the chance is 65 percent.
Ericsson Albumin Method
The Ericsson Albumin Method is a procedure also used to select the gender. This method was developed by Dr. Ronald Ericsson and holds a success rate of 78 to 85 percent for boys and 73 to 75 percent for girls. The process involves layering sperm over a protein called human serum albumin. This protein is the main protein in blood. The strongest sperm will travel downwards and will make it through the layer of protein. These are considered the best sperm since they were able to navigate through the strong substance of protein. The sperm are then washed and tested for their gender characteristics. Once a gender has been determined for the remaining sperm, the mother is inseminated. According to Dr. Ericsson, Clomid is given to maximize a woman's chance of conceiving a girl.
