According to the Shettles method, sperm containing the y (male) chromosome tend to be "faster" than those containing the x (female) chromosome, so sex right when ovulation occurs or shortly after should increase the odds for a boy because the "boy" sperm will win the race to the egg. Sex two to four days prior to ovulation tends to favor girls because the sperm with the x-chromosome tend to live a longer than the y-chromosome containing sperm so by the time the egg arrives most of the "boy" sperm are dead.

The Whelan method advocates the opposite of the Shettles method. The Whelan method suggests intercourse four to six days prior to ovulation to increase the likelihood of fertilization by male sperm.

Of course both methods require knowing exactly when ovulation occurs so relying them to choose the gender would only slightly increases the chance of getting the target gender - and, in case you didn't notice, they give opposite advice...

There are only 2 proven techniques that may affect the gender of the baby: 1) sperm sorting and 2) IVF with the use of PGD.

Sperm sorting works on the premise that it separates the X and Y-sperm by use of centrifugation. During centrifugation, controlled spinning causes particles in a sample to become sorted into layers according to density of those particles. Sorting separates the more dense X-sperm from the lighter Y-sperm. One half of the sperm normally produced by a healthy male will carry the Y-chromosome producing a male child, and the other half of the sperm will be the X-chromosome producing a female child. By altering the number of one chromosome or the other by separating the layers, one is increasing the chances of producing a child of a specific gender. During sperm sorting, the sperm cells are separated from the seminal fluid, the sperm are concentrated into healthy and motile sperm, abnormal sperm is filtered out, and finally the separation of the X and Y-sperm concentrates the sample to the desired gender. The remaining sample is more likely to result in a successful pregnancy and will increase the odds of the desired gender group. This technique is widely used and is a standard process in IVF and IUI procedures. After the sperm is sorted, the sample will be inseminated into the woman which is an in office technique. Using sperm sorting improves the odds of a boy to approximately 78% - 85% instead of 50%. If trying for a girl, using sperm sorting yields about 73% - 75% girls.

The technique PGD is the only method which can virtually guarantee the gender of your choice because embryos are tested for gender before they are implanted in the womb. These tested embryos are created for the purpose of IVF. The eggs are harvested from the mother (or donor) and the sperm sample is taken from the father (or donor) and the embryos are created in the lab for later implantation. These embryos are subject to a biopsy procedure on the third day of growth that allows a single cell to be analyzed for male or female chromosomes. While this is the most accurate technique, it is by far the most involved and most costly. PGD is commonly used for couples with a family history of a genetic disorder and older mothers are more likely to have a baby with genetic birth defects. PGD is not 100% reliable and only tests for specific defects, parents should use other prenatal genetic tests, such as amniocentesis or chorionic villus sampling. PGD is expensive and still considered an experimental procedure. Clinics will not allow couples to partake in PGD even if they are willing to pay for the services if the couple simply wants to influence the gender of their child. Screening processes are extremely stringent and in most cases a couple will only be accepted if they have a genetic abnormality they are attempting to avoid. Success rates for this type of procedure are 97-99.9% accurate in couples seeking either a boy or girl.

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