By Francis Ewherido
I was discussing with one of my younger friends, Emma. I told him that one of the major agreements intending couples must have is the number of children they want to have, all things being equal. He responded that he wanted two children and he prayed to God for a boy and a girl which he now has. I told him that I also prayed before every pregnancy of my children, but I never prayed for the sex of the children. Rather, I thanked God for giving me the privilege to determine the sex of the baby I want every time. He was curious. I told him that God has already given us the power and we (my wife and I) used the power (knowledge of reproduction in biology we all learnt in school) and it applied to determine the sex of the baby we wanted at all times. I went on to explain to him. When I was done, he said many young people are not aware and hope on luck to have a baby boy or girl. He begged me to share the knowledge. I told him I have done so in my book, Life Lessons from Mudipapa and on this column. He pleaded that I share it again. I, therefore, shelved the article for this week to share again.
NATURALLY preselecting the sex of your baby is no rocket science. So it is painful to see couples unfulfilled, sad or breed like rabbits because they are looking for either a son or daughter, son most of the time. Today, I am giving an abridged version of steps that you need to take to naturally preselect the sex of your baby with stunning accuracy.
First, we must remember or know that the male sperms carry either X or Y chromosomes, while the female eggs carry only the X chromosomes. The egg carrying the X chromosome and the sperm carrying Y chromosome produce a male child, while the egg carrying the X chromosome and the sperm carrying X chromosome produce a female child. So a man determines the sex of a baby.
The sperm carrying the Y chromosome swims faster, but has a shorter lifespan while the sperm carrying the X chromosome is slower, but has a longer lifespan. If you want a male child, intercourse should take place just before or during ovulation. The faster sperms carrying the Y chromosome would get to the egg and fertilise it before the sperms with X chromosome make their slow and steady journey there. And only one sperm can fertilise an egg. If, however, intercourse takes three days (sometimes two days) or more before ovulation, the result will likely be a boy. This is because all the faster sperms carrying the Y chromosomes with short lifespan would have died leaving the egg for the slower sperms carrying the X chromosomes with longer lifespan to fertilise.
The critical elements here are the ovulation, which occurs when an egg or ovum is released from the ovary and usually lasts for about 12 to 24 hours, and timing of intercourse. Ovulation normally occurs between the 12th to 14th day of a woman’s 28-day cycle, but like most human phenomena, there are no absolute certainties and it varies from one woman to another. Even within the same woman, there are variations. Many women find this unpredictability challenging. Such women can engage in charting, that is daily recording of changes in the mucus discharge from the vagina that is related to ovulation, to enhance predictability.
Please note that how long the sperm lives in the body of your wife after intercourse is determined by a number of factors. One, the vaginal environment is very important. If it is alkaline, the sperm carrying the Y chromosome can survive up to three days, while the sperm carrying the X chromosome can survive for five or six days. But if the vaginal environment is acidic, it is less habitable for the X and Y sperms and they die much earlier. That is why knowing the day of ovulation is very essential to pre-selection of the sex of your baby, because if you do, the vaginal environment, friendly or hostile, becomes inconsequential.
The other important factor is the health of the husband’s sperms. Studies have shown that the sperms of men decline both in quality and quantity from age 40. It is earlier for smokers. Lifestyle and the type of food you eat also influence the quantity and quality of sperms and ability to impregnate your wife. In fact, the egg does not accept every sperm that comes its way. It is very selective and attracted more to healthy sperms. This can be a challenge for men with weak sperms or low sperm count when they want to impregnate their wives, according to research findings.
You also need some discipline and cooperation between spouses if you want to naturally pre-select the sex of your babies. For a start, pre-selection is easier when the woman is practising natural family planning as against the use of artificial contraceptives, because artificial contraceptives disrupt the cycle of women, stopping ovulation or making ovulation more unpredictable, and you do need some level of predictability in the ovulation cycle to naturally preselect the sex of your babies
In addition, the couple needs to stay off intercourse for at least five days before ovulation. This is to ensure that residue semen in the woman’s body from previous intercourse does not interfere with her vaginal discharge and create confusion. There are a number of natural ways women know they are ovulating: the thick slimy vaginal discharge which is like phlegm (catarrh, as some refer to it), some women feel a sharp pain on the side or lower abdomen when the egg is released, heightened sense of smell, breast soreness or tenderness, increased sexual urge and change in body temperature..
Just in case you are wondering why I write categorically on the efficacy of this method, I used it to preselect the sex of all my children – Two girls and three boys.
DERIVATION FUND
During the week some Niger Deltans were incensed when they learnt that part of the derivation funds withheld since 1999 have been released to our governors. Many of us never knew this. Specifically Delta got N142b, Akwa Ibom; N91b; Rivers, N83b; Bayelsa, N87b and Edo, N17b. These are humongous sums of money and they are special funds: DERIVATION. How much of these monies were devoted to oil producing communities for physical and human development? These communities bear the brunt of the effects of oil exploration. Our governors need to personally tell us what they did/or are doing with the money, not delegating the responsibility to a commissioner or government spokesman. Some state government officials are treating the matter with levity as if we have no right to ask.
I join my voice with other Niger Deltans that our governors should handle the matter with the seriousness it deserves by personally telling their citizens what they did with the money. The President gave the governors the money and they should talk to us directly. If they cannot, they and their parties do not deserve the people’s votes in 2023. Do not treat us with disdain. Without these communities these states will not be entitled to this fund. I am not talking about politics; it is about the people and humanity which this column represents.
