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Will Your Baby Be a Boy or a Girl? It's a Matter of Yin and Yang

Posted on: Wednesday, 14 September 2005, 09:00 CDT

OF ALL the questions and uncertainties surrounding the impending birth of a baby, there is one which is never far from the minds of all expectant parents: Will it be a boy or a girl?

To this end soothsayers and scientists alike have devised a myriad ways to help mothers and fathers predict what sex their baby will be.

The old wives' tales, such as dangling a wedding ring over a burgeoning belly, are fun and harmless, but which of us would paint the nursery pink or blue on the say-so of such a method?

Modern technology offers more reliable indications, with ultrasound scans often able to show whether those pattering feet will be male or female - but you will probably have to pay for the pleasure.

Less costly, and with a reputed accuracy rate of 90 per cent, is the Chinese baby gender prediction chart, the latest import from Eastern philosophy to hit the Western world.

The chart uses the month in which the baby is conceived together with the mother's age to predict what sex the child will be.

Historians believe that the original chart is more than 700 years old, and that it was first used by the royal families of the Jin Dynasty, who reigned from 1115 to 1234. The chart was found in one of the Jin Dynasty tombs, which lay undiscovered for centuries in a suburb of Beijing, and is now housed in the Beijing Institute of Science.

Historians have no idea who devised the chart, but Dr Tommy McClellan, a lecturer at the University of Edinburgh's Scottish Centre for Chinese Studies, explains that throughout history the Chinese people have relied on such predictions to derive what the future holds.

It seems that the gender prediction chart was a very sophisticated way of predicting which sex the heirs to the throne would be.

"Almanacs have always been dominant in Chinese people's lives," says McClellan. "Even today books containing predictions for the coming year are sold at the beginning of the Lunar New Year by street vendors.

"They would be more prevalent in the upper classes, as they would have the money to get sophisticated charts drawn up about what was going to happen in the future. Common people were just as superstitious, but they would be more likely to base their lives on cruder predictions."

Although nobody has been able to fully explain how the chart was calculated, or what criteria it uses, it is known that it is based on the Ziwu Liuwu - the "Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches". This was the system which the Chinese used to count the passing of the years and decades.

In the Chinese calendar the years rotate according to a cycle of ten Heavenly Stems, while the 12 Earthly Branches were used to count the months of the year.

The chart is now widely available to expectant parents in the West as part of a newly published book, Qi! Chinese Secrets of Health, Beauty and Vitality.

We have reproduced the chart here, with instructions on how to use it. The chart is credited with a 90 per cent accuracy rate in the east - and a straw poll of our office found similar results.

Although it is devised for pregnant mothers, those keen to determine the gender of a future child might also consider using it to plan when to conceive, to heighten their chances of creating either a Morag or Murdoch.

But, if you are already pregnant, forget swinging a ring over your ever-expanding belly, and take a tip instead from Eastern medicine to lay your maternal curiosity to rest.

* Qi! Chinese Secrets of Health, Beauty and Vitality by Kate O'Brien with Troy Sing, is published by Creative Licence at GBP 14.99, ISBN 9810529236.

The mothers of all tales and theories

FROM old wives' tales to state- of-the-art scientific tests, there are dozens of ways to try and guess the sex of your unborn baby. Here are some of the most common:

WEDDING RING

Nobody is sure where this theory originates, but most mothers have tried the wedding ring test. This old wives' tale reckons that by suspending your wedding ring on a string and holding it above your stomach, you can predict the sex of your unborn baby. If it swings back and forth, you're having a boy. If it's a more circular motion, it's a girl.

THE BUMP

The way you carry your bump during pregnancy is a popular theory said to reveal the sex of your baby. According to this one, if your baby sits low on your abdomen, you will have a boy. If you're carrying your baby higher up, it's a girl.

CRAVINGS

Hormonal changes can make pregnant women crave certain foods. However, some believe that what you are craving can be telling. According to the theory, if you crave salty or sour foods, it will be a boy, but if it is cakes and sweets that you hanker after, it will be a girl. There are no scientific findings to back this up, although in 2003 the New Scientist magazine carried a report suggesting expectant mothers have bigger appetites if they are carrying a boy rather than a girl. This may be because boys tend to be on average around 100g heavier than girls, and may need more calories in the womb.

NEW SCIENCE

Scientific tests are the surest way to know whether to paint the nursery pink or blue. An amniocentesis test involves the removal of amniotic fluid via a needle inserted through the maternal abdomen into the uterus and amniotic sac. Designed to detect chromosomal abnormalities in the foetus, it can also reveal the sex of the baby.

An ultrasound scan after the 20th week can also reveal this, because by this stage the baby should be developed enough for it to be visible whether it is a boy or a girl. NHS scans are often only offered at 12 weeks - too early to tell the gender - but parents can now visit Baby Scanning, a private clinic which offers 3D ultrasound scans (and images to take away) which offer a good chance of revealing the sex of the baby. Scans start from GBP 195. Baby Scanning Ltd, Glasgow, tel: 0141-221 2611, or visit the website at www.babyscanning.co.uk

Source: Scotsman, The

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