Planning Your Baby's Gender - An Overview of Prince or Princess by Alicia Pennington

Gender Disappointment has sadly become a recognised condition among new parents whose desire for a child of a given sex has not been fulfilled. Its symptoms have been likened to that of post-natal depression, and in some cases, can be part of its cause. Feelings of grief, despondency, depression and an inability to bond with the new-born baby are common symptoms of the condition.

Thankfully, most new parents never encounter such feelings as they are too busy being overjoyed at having a healthy child of either sex. For some though, the need to have a boy or girl, depending on circumstances, is overwhelming and can have devastating effects on the dynamics of the family. In the developed world where sexual equality is the norm, this is less of a problem, but for couples still wanting to influence the gender of their unborn child, there are certain methods available, but often at a price.

Wanting a baby of a particular gender is nothing new - for centuries, societies and cultures across the world have taken certain attitudes to the sex of their children. The custom of primogeniture in many Western countries has favoured the birth of male babies. Disappointment at the birth of female child was never disguised and the pressure on women to produce a male heir was intense, often leading them to continue having children until a boy was eventually produced. Only in recent times has this attitude changed, but in many other countries, the value of one sex over another is still inherent.

The issue of gender selection among babies is a bit of a hornet's nest. The use of gender selection in an in-vitro environment is becoming more common to couples willing to pay for the benefit. This does, however, involved invasive, medicalized procedures to remove eggs, fertilise and then implant the chosen embryo. This creates the potential for unwanted embryos - an issue that has caused controversy in the recent past.

Alicia Pennington, a midwife with many years hands-on experience has developed Prince or Princess, a guide to influencing the gender of your baby using non-invasive and completely safe methods. She test-ran her methods on a control group of couples before releasing the guide which boasts a 94% success rate. Her guide, available as an eBook, covers the following aspects of influencing gender:

Having sex at specific times of a woman's menstrual cycle. This has been widely proven to affect the gender of a baby. Male-producing sperm tend to move fast but live only short lives, (but jolly ones, apparently!), and female-producing sperm are less motile but have greater longevity. The point of the woman's cycle at which the sperm meet the egg, and the position of the egg at the time of fertilisation can have a great effect on which sperm are more likely to have done the job.

For men, the pressure is often on to create the right type of sperm in the first place. It is widely known that wearing tight underwear and taking hot baths can reduce the production and survival of sperm, but slight changes in temperature of the testicles can create significant changes in the ratio of male/female-producing sperm.

Dietary changes can have a huge effect on the production of sperm and the conditions within the uterus.