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By Francis Ewherido
Do not be surprised that we are still on this matter. Besides companionship, which God decreed as the primary reason for marriage, procreation comes next. And many people would love to have things their way, so the continuing interest in the pre-selection of the sex of babies is understandable. Today, we are going to deal with two questions, the fallout from last week’s article.
Our first respondent wants to know how people were able to give birth to between five and 10 children of same sex in those days, when the knowledge on pre-selection was not available. Was it co-incidence? I come from a family of eight males, no female. I asked my mother how they did it. Was it planned? She said it was not, that it just happened.
Now this is what I suspect could have happened in all these multiple births of same sex babies. Remember we identified two types of vaginal environments last week: the friendly alkaline and the hostile acidic environments. For those who had all males, I suspect they had a hostile environment. You remember we said last week that the sperms survive for a shorter time in a hostile environment. Let us assume, for the sake of our analysis here, two days. The implication is that for the woman to conceive, intercourse must take place around ovulation. In such a situation, the sperms carrying X chromosome stand no chance. The faster sperms carry the Y chromosome would reach and fertilise the released egg or ovary before the sperms with the X chromosome get to the egg. And if intercourse takes place three or more days before ovulation, the hostile acidic vaginal environment would probably have killed all the sperms, leaving no sperms, not even the enduring sperms carrying the X chromosome, to fertilise the egg.
As for the couples, who had all female children, two reasons could have been responsible: timing and friendly vaginal environment. I suspect that intercourse was always taking place three or more days before ovulation and the released sperms had a field day because the environment was very friendly. Consequently, the sperms carrying the Y chromosome, which are faster but have a shorter lifespan, died before the egg was released, leaving the slower, but more enduring sperms, carrying the X chromosome to fertilise the egg. The result of sperm with X chromosome and the egg, which invariably carries the X chromosome, is a baby girl.
These are my educated guesses and if I am right, it is not surprising that some women in those days had 12 male children. Their vaginal environment was probably very acidic, so they stood very little chance of having female children, try as some of them did. In the case of those with only female children, their inability to know their days of ovulation was their challenge, not necessarily their friendly vaginal environment, because that key knowledge of the day of ovulation would have put them in the driver’s seat of pre-selecting the sex of their children. But then, these are the assumptions of a non-medical professional.
- The second question, how can women with irregular periods accurately predict ovulation? We mentioned them last week. First, the thick slimy vaginal discharge, which is like phlegm or egg white, is unmistakable and markedly different from the discharge prior to and after ovulation. Here all the woman needs is regular monitoring. Also the sharp pain on the side or lower abdomen is also unmistakable for some women. They notice it once the egg is released, indicating the beginning of ovulation. Three, some women also have a heightened sense of smell during ovulation. There is a common conversation among couples: wife: “what’s smelling here?” Husband smells the air and responds, “I can’t smell anything.” Wife: “your nostrils are blocked.” Unknown to some women, they are ovulating.
- Incidentally, smell is a very powerful tool to know when ovulation occurs. That is how many males in the animal kingdom know when their females are in heat or in season (ovulating). Animals predict ovulation with stunning accuracy. It is somewhat ironic that humans, who are higher creatures, lag behind in this department. May be, that is God’s way of ensuring that we have a fairly balanced population of men and women. If everybody understood natural sex selection, the world’s population would be lopsided in favour of one sex and you know the sex.
- Four, during ovulation, some women experience soreness of breast. Even slightly touching their breasts causes pains. Some others experience tenderness in their breasts and can easily get sexually aroused with sucking or touch. Five, some women experience increase in the normal (basal) body temperature.
- Six, due to hormonal changes during ovulation, some women experience increased libido. This is always a trap for women, who practice natural family planning and have no plans for babies at that time. The desire to engage in intercourse is high during this period. Some couples gamble: “nothing go happen,” they console themselves, knowing pregnancy can occur. Some of the unplanned male children you see in families were given birth to at such times, because intercourse then invariably results in a male child.
- To be doubly sure, some women combine two or more of these signs to know their ovulation period. But if you are still confused, then you have to do the more reliable daily charting of vaginal discharge. There is a popular book on it; you can send me an email for the name.
Who will save Nigerians from DISCOS
In the face of dwindling resources and receding purchasing power, many Nigerians are groaning under the weight of crazy bills from power distribution companies. What does it take to make pre-paid meters available to all electricity consumers, so that every household can be in control of their electricity expenses?
It is so painful seeing your neighbours with more electrical gadgets, but with pre-paid meters, paying less than you do. A family travels for a month and is welcomed with the same N30,000 monthly bill they were paying while their residence was occupied. In a whole month, you get electricity cumulatively for seven days, yet DISCOs bill you as if you have had power supply for the whole month. Some neighbourhoods have not had electricity supply for months, yet they are being forced to pay for electricity.
In spite of all the messages you get in respect of consumer rights, consumers are helpless when it comes to electricity billings. The government and its agencies should come to the aid of Nigerians.