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Pregnancy Forum > Pregnancy Q and A Forum > Sex of a Child (Page 1)
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Q: Sex of a Child
asked by: leeandrews on January 27th, 2004
New User
Is it true,all babies start off as females?
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anorexicbeauty
replied on January 27th, 2004
Experienced User
No its not. When conception occurs the gender is already decided based on the chromosomes xx or xy, xx is girl and xy is boy. The gender is also determined by the father.
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lynneannet
replied on February 14th, 2004
New User
Well Yes And No
Genetically you have the x (girl) and y (boy) chromosome and that is determined once the sperm reaches the egg.
So yes from conception it is determined that the baby is a boy or a girl
but here is the twist, in the beginning of development baby boys can look like baby girls.. Until the testicles descend from the abdomen..
So we start out physiologically similar.. But hormonal progression such as testosterone (in boys) and estrogen (in girls) start the differentiation process... Their can off course be some errors made by the baby's body in the process and that is when baby's are born with ambiguous sex organs... (usually the true sex can be determined genetically.. But this is rare)

i hope I answered your question
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baby_jasmine26
replied on May 5th, 2004
New User
Half Right!
Genetically you have the x (girl) and y (boy) chromosome and that is determined once the sperm reaches the egg.

That statement is the only thing incorrect about your reply. I paid enough attention in biology in high school and college to know that women carry the xx chromosomes, every sperm is either a x chromosome or a y chromosome and so when the sperm reaches the egg, either sperm is paired with the mothers x chromosomes. If the fathers x chromosome pairs with the mothers x chromosome (xx) the sex of the baby will be a girl and if the father's y chromosome pairs with the mothers x chromosome (xy) then the sex of the baby will be a boy!
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colecole
replied on August 16th, 2004
New User
I'm not going to argue right or wrong. But when trying to conceive a girl I have heard to wait until a couple days in to ovulation because the female sperm are stronger than the male sperm.
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jessamyn
replied on October 3rd, 2004
Extremely eHealthy
Whats the earliest time you can find out the sex of the baby my doctor has my scheduled for 18 weeks for sex ultrasound... Is that too soon?
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bellax0x
replied on October 3rd, 2004
Extremely eHealthy
Its possible at 18 weeks, but it could be wrong. The only deff way is to either wait until the baby is born or have an amnio done

<3
gaby
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Kia
replied on October 3rd, 2004
Moderator
That all babies start off female is an old wives tale based on the fact that the female carries xx chromosome.
They don't and there is no way you can tell until you single out the sperm responsible which it will be Exclamation
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scatterbrain
replied on November 1st, 2004
New User
I thought that the story was that at 9 weeks the baby either developes a penis or stays a girl. I thought thats why boys had nipples? Just in case they were to be girls? Isn't the equivalent to ovaries the "balls", and the equivalent to clitoris is the penis. Wouldn't the chromosomes determine what grows at that point in development? Hmmm, this makes me think!
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jessamyn
replied on November 1st, 2004
Extremely eHealthy
Dude thats crazy
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withbabybibb
replied on November 2nd, 2004
New User
Can You Request the Amino Test
I'm 33 yrs old and would really like an amino test done just to make sure the baby is ok. Is that test dangerous. Is so, why? The only good thing about that is that I will know the sex of the baby and if its healthy. How far along do you have to be?

Ebibb
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Angelina119
replied on November 11th, 2004
New User
Hmmm...
colecole wrote:
i'm not going to argue right or wrong. But when trying to conceive a girl I have heard to wait until a couple days in to ovulation because the female sperm are stronger than the male sperm.


this is incorrect. Female sperm are "stronger" in the fact that they live longer, but male sperm swim faster. Conception occurs when the egg is realeased usually if it's to much later then the egg disintegrates to much to make a baby. So if you are trying to conceive a boy you need to have sex in the 24 hours period before the egg is realeased. And if you are trying to have a girl you need to have sex up to 4 days before the egg is realeased, and not have sex within the 24 hour period before the egg drops. Male sperm dies after 24 hours but swim twice as fast, and female sperm swim slower but the live for 3-5 days! This method I have been told by doctors is 90% effective when done exactly when it's supposed too.
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Angelina119
replied on November 11th, 2004
New User
Amnio Test.
I don't know when you can get this done in pregnancy, but it has it's risks. Realize the amniotic sac is a strong barrier to protect the baby and keep the fluid in the right place. A needle must punture this and create a risk for misscarriage, infection, or early labor. These risks are why all women don't have them done. Unless the doctor has had any concerns for the health of your baby he or she is probably just fine. As for determining the sex of your baby that can be done at around 5 months with an ultrasound, and is usually pretty accurate. Of course they can be wrong especially if you are having a baby girl. But congratulations on your baby.
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BeckLyn
replied on November 11th, 2004
Experienced User
I have also read that we start out as girls, and that is why boys have nipples.... So I think the chromosone thing is right, but I agree with that obviously the organs begin developing as a female and may change to a male.... And what about those few people that have both parts???? Or grow up thinking they're a girl and find out later they're a male?????? Wierd stuff!
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Angelina119
replied on November 11th, 2004
New User
Um.
When the baby is conceived it is allready in their genes as to which sex they will be, but boys and girls develop the same untill a certain amount of weeks pass at which point the sex organs that were determined at conception begin to develop.
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1sttimemama
replied on November 27th, 2004
Experienced User
Every baby cocieved will turn out to be a girl...Unless it is fertalized by a male (xy) so in that sense than yes, they all start out going in the dirction of a girl, because all the mother has is a (xx). Then its the dads job to step in and say, here's a (x) or a (y)
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KatieKaboom
replied on December 1st, 2004
New User
Withbabybibb
The risks of amniocentesis were already mapped out for you, but I wanted to add some.

Really, the only reason to get one done for health reasons would be if you wanted to terminate the pregnancy if it turned out there was a problem. So if you wouldn't abort no matter what, there's just no point.

Also, false abnormal results are common with amnios. I've heard stories about women who had it done, the doctor tells them there's something wrong with their baby....And they stress over it for *months*...Then the baby's born, and it's perfectly fine. Turns out the amnio was wrong. I wouldn't recommend those things to anyone....Unless they wanted to abort if something was wrong.
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jessamyn
replied on December 1st, 2004
Extremely eHealthy
Haha gaby yep actually 18-20 weeks is the best time
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babyluvwu
replied on December 3rd, 2004
Experienced User
The myth about all of us starting off as girls comes from the fact that the egg being released carries the xx chromosome but as soon as it gets fertalized by a sperm, the sperm determines the sex of the baby so if the sperm carries the xx chromosome then the baby will be a girl, if the sperm carries an xy chromosome then the baby will be a boy. I can see the sense that people seem to think we all start off as girls, it may seem that way but its not true. The egg without fertalization is not alive, its just another part of our body responding to instinct. So just because the egg carries that xx chromosome does not mean its a girl whether or not it gets fertalized. Hope that helps
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cherriegurl
replied on December 3rd, 2004
Extremely eHealthy
But jess I thought u already knew
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