Punch Newspaper - It is a common saying that ‘timing is everything,’ but when it comes to sex, especially when it’s just for pleasure, that phrase may not readily apply.
Pleasurable sexual intercourse can be done at anytime and anywhere, because all that is important to enjoy it in that instance is the consent and cooperation of the other person, and in a favourable atmosphere.
In fact, there are times that it is after the romp in the sack that some couples soon realise the inappropriateness of where they did it. It can be that spontaneous.
Be that as it may, findings have however shown that for couples who are aiming at conception, or more specifically, couples who are desirous of pre-determining the gender of their baby, timing is indeed everything.
In other words, the time of the month they have sex is just as crucial to achieving that goal.
And a quote by Rick Springfield, an Australian author, says it all, “If the timing is right and the gods are with you, something special happens.”
Ordinarily, couples who want to have a child are often advised to have sex about three times a week, especially around the time when the woman ovulates to enhance fertilisation. But there is more to that if couples want a particular gender.
The easiest way to have male child
It should be noted that the sperm released by a man has both x and y chromosomes, while the eggs released by a woman at ovulation have x and x chromosomes. And for a woman to conceive a male, the man must release the ‘y’ chromosome because it determines the masculinity of a child. While the x chromosomes equally determine the feminism of the baby.
However, according to Dr. Rotimi Adesanya, a medical doctor, the ‘y’ chromosomes are more active than the x chromosomes, but they die faster than x chromosomes, which are weaker but last longer.
Therefore, when the Y chromosomes are dead, it remains the X chromosomes, and if it is the woman’s fertile period, the woman would likely have a ‘bouncing baby girl.’
Therefore, what should be done if couples want to have a male child?
Adesanya explained that a woman is more likely to conceive a male if sexual intercourse takes place on the day the woman is most fertile, which is the day she releases an egg and that is usually between day 10 and 19 of the menstrual cycle.
He said, “If the sexual intercourse takes place on the day of the woman’s ovulation (the day she releases an egg), which is the day 14 of the woman’s menstrual cycle, and the man releases sperm, that child is ‘likely’ to be a male. This is because the man’s sperm has x and y chromosomes, but the ‘y’ chromosome that determines the masculinity is very active, so it reaches the egg faster than the x that is weaker.
“That is why it is said that couples who want to have a male child stand a better chance if they have sex on the day the woman ovulates.
However, I must add that it is not 100 per cent certain. It is a game of probability. Some people have tried it and it worked, while some others have tried it and it didn’t work.
“That is why we use the word ‘likely’, just that the probability is high if they do ‘it’ on the woman’s ovulation day.”
He added that such couples still stand a chance of having a boy if they have the intercourse like a day after the woman’s ovulation day, because once a woman releases an egg, it can stay for between 24 to 48 hours. Thus, when the man releases sperm into her the day after her ovulation, the ‘y’ chromosome in the sperm would go faster than the x to target the egg that had been there already.
He said, “So, whether the intercourse happens on that ovulation day or the day after (though advisable on the ovulation day), it is most likely to be a boy. If it is after, it should not be more than one or two days, because when a woman releases egg on that day 14, by the second day, that egg would start degenerating and start breaking down to what comes out as blood during menstruation.
“Impliedly, if nothing happens to the egg like after two days, it will break down and come out as blood because the egg doesn’t last more than two days.”
Having a girl child with ease
Meanwhile, for those who want to have a girl child, Adesanya explained that the best way to go about that would be for such persons to have intercourse like a day or two before the ovulation day, more so that sperm can stay in a woman for two to three days.
He added, “If the intercourse happens like a day or two days before the ovulation day, the sperm would still be there, but because the ‘y’ chromosomes do not last like the x chromosomes, what would be left of the sperm would likely be the x chromosomes because they stay longer. And so, the baby would likely be a girl.”
Meanwhile, given the important role ovulation day plays in helping couples to have a chance of determining the gender of their baby, it is necessary to identify the symptoms that precede or characterise the coming of the ovulation period.
According to Adesanya, such things include abdominal pain, being moody, feeling feverish, because of the effects of hormones, increase in breasts size, vomiting for some as if they are pregnant, etc. He added that increased lubrication of the vagina could also be a pointer, as they tend to feel wet at that period.
“It is just like when an animal is on heat and it tends to move closer to the male animals. That is when a woman actually releases an egg. And that day 14 of the woman’s menstrual cycle could vary by one or two days in some women,” he added.
He stressed that even though those calculations may not be 100 per cent sure, there is high possibility that it works.
Meanwhile, for those who are only interested in having a child, regardless of the gender, some experts have stressed the need for such couples to have sex three times a week, so that at some point, the sperm would be in the vagina either a day before ovulation or on that day.
Adesanya said, “In a woman’s cycle, we normally say they should have sex from day 10 of their cycle, which we call the fertile period; because ovulation itself occurs between the 10th and 18th day of the menstrual cycle.
“But the day that has the highest likelihood is that day 14. The principle is that from day 10 to 14, if sexual intercourse happens, that sperm would be waiting for the egg to be released.
“We also use the principle for those who don’t want to conceive. During that day 10 to 18, they should not have intercourse, until after that because that is when the woman is most fertile.
It should equally be noted that ovulation itself is a part of the menstrual cycle, which is usually between 26 and 31 days, which is when an egg is released.
And according to livescience, an organisation that provides information on health, technology and other related issues, a healthy adult male could release between 40 million and 1.2 billion sperm cells in a single ejaculation.
Notably, they are that many because of the stiff competition as to which among them would fertilise the egg.
