Research shows the one of the most important ways of influencing the gender of your baby is to time intercourse correctly.

If you’re trying to conceive a boy, you should have intercourse as close as possible to ovulation. The reasoning behind this is as follows – female (X) sperm are more resilient than male (Y) sperm and therefore they live longer. So in effect they can ‘hang around’ in the female body for 3 or 4 days waiting for ovulation to occur,  and fertilise the egg. Male sperm have a shorter lifespan, and will die before ovulation occurs.

So, as male sperm are quicker, and have a shorter lifespan than female sperm – having sex as close to ovulation as possible maximises their chances of fertilising the egg – as they can reach the egg quicker than the female sperm, and can fertilise the egg before they die off.

Research shows that sexual position is also important – we’ll cover this in more detail in another post.