A few decades ago, it was completely impossible to predict the birth of a boy or a girl. Today, finding out the sex of a child during pregnancy is quite easy. But is it possible to plan the outcome in advance?
A recent scientific study has found a link between the sex of a newborn and the mother's health status before conception, namely blood pressure.
The problem of the possibility of choosing or predicting the sex of a future child even before conception has always interested and attracted the attention of researchers and the public.
There are many theories, opinions, or prejudices (call them what you will) linking gender to diet, date of conception, the emotional and physical state of the parents, and so on. And so far, none of these theories have been confirmed or refuted by science, but there are several studies with interesting results.
In 2008, a study by British scientists published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society showed that the likelihood of having a boy increases dramatically if the expectant mother's diet is dominated by cereals and other potassium-rich foods.
The authors identified a trend but did not find a cause-and-effect relationship. Perhaps this is why their colleagues viewed their work critically.
Recently, the American Journal of Hypertension presented another attempt to study whether controllable specific factors can influence the sex of offspring.
A team led by Dr. Ravi Retnakaran from Toronto studied nearly 1,500 women wanting to get pregnant to determine whether there is a link between a woman's pre-pregnancy body condition and the sex of the baby.
Beginning in February 2009, researchers assessed the health of 1,411 young women in the Chinese city of Liuyang. They recorded various indicators, including blood pressure, cholesterol, triglyceride levels, and blood sugar.
Within 26 weeks of the tests, all women became pregnant and successfully carried their babies to term. 739 boys and 672 girls were born.
After analyzing all factors, including the mothers' age, body mass index, and level of addiction to unhealthy habits, the scientists found a link between the baby's gender and the expectant mother's blood pressure before pregnancy. All women who gave birth to boys had higher blood pressure than those who gave birth to girls.
The study's findings suggest that blood pressure readings may be a predictor of whether a boy or a girl is born.
“Our study demonstrates that a woman's pre-pregnancy blood pressure is a previously unrecognized factor associated with the likelihood of having a boy or a girl. This news may have implications for both reproductive planning and understanding the underlying mechanisms,” Dr. Retkoran believes.
However, like the previous ones, the latest scientific result did not reveal any cause-and-effect relationships, although it did demonstrate a dependence.
Perhaps the discovered link between blood pressure and gender will spur new scientific research, but for now, no one can tell expectant parents exactly what to do to have a girl or a boy. And is it even necessary?