Possible to test for x or y sperm?

Hi - is it possible to test sperm, from a sample given, for percentage
of x or y chromosomes? Semen analysis check for sperm count and quality
etc, but can a check for the number of X as opposed to Y chromosomes be
done? We have 3 girls and want to know if we have any likelihood of
having a boy next if we conceive again.

50/50

:P

Tori
wrote in message
oups.com...
Hi - is it possible to test sperm, from a sample given, for percentage
of x or y chromosomes? Semen analysis check for sperm count and quality
etc, but can a check for the number of X as opposed to Y chromosomes be
done? We have 3 girls and want to know if we have any likelihood of
having a boy next if we conceive again.

wrote:
Hi - is it possible to test sperm, from a sample given, for percentage
of x or y chromosomes? Semen analysis check for sperm count and quality
etc, but can a check for the number of X as opposed to Y chromosomes be
done? We have 3 girls and want to know if we have any likelihood of
having a boy next if we conceive again.

I don't know if it is possible to test, but it
is possible to separate the two. It's not a cheap procedure,
and most places have rules on whether and when they'll do it
for sex selection, but it's possible.

Best wishes,
Ericka

wrote in message
oups.com...
Hi - is it possible to test sperm, from a sample given, for percentage
of x or y chromosomes? Semen analysis check for sperm count and quality
etc, but can a check for the number of X as opposed to Y chromosomes be
done? We have 3 girls and want to know if we have any likelihood of
having a boy next if we conceive again.


It's possible to do "sperm spinning" which is a procedure some offices will
do. It's not covered by insurance and it is not a guarantee. I have a
friend who did it after 2 boys and she got a girl...of course there's no way
of knowing what she would have had without the sperm spinning.

I'm guessing the Xs are heavier, so it's easier to separate them out. I
think it's less effective if you want a boy, but it's certainly worth asking
your doctor about. You may have to go to a fertility doctor to perform the
procedure, and you'll have to have an insemination.

Good luck,

Jen

wrote:
We have 3 girls and want to know if we have any likelihood of
having a boy next if we conceive again.

Do you have reason to believe there is something wrong with your DH's Y
chromosome? That's unlikely.

Do you know about timing fertilization? It's very low tech and you can
do it at home.

Hi my understanding is that Dr. Shettles theory has been recently
largely
disproved...http://www.in-gender.com/cs/blogs/Ge...1/13/5342.aspx

For more about sex selection, which methods work, don't work etc., and
a very interesting website on the subject, check out in-gender.com. The
woman who created the site has been doing sort of a grass roots
research into sex selection and she has a great deal of information,
along with forums where people post what method they tried and what the
results were, etc....


Pologirl wrote:
wrote:
We have 3 girls and want to know if we have any likelihood of
having a boy next if we conceive again.

Do you have reason to believe there is something wrong with your DH's Y
chromosome? That's unlikely.

Do you know about timing fertilization? It's very low tech and you can
do it at home.

wrote:
We have 3 girls and want to know if we have any likelihood of
having a boy next if we conceive again.

I would not bother to worry about whether the sperm have a skewed sex
ratio; the possibilities are far more diverse than that. Ie, avoid
trying to find a needle in a haystack by examining one stalk of hay
with a microscope.

I suggest consulting a genetics counselor. Genetics can cause skewed
sex ratio in offspring, but 3 of 3 children being female is not all
that unlikely. Does the mother's family run to females? Eg, several
generations in which all children are female or, if there are male
children too, the males are not healthy?

Pologirl wrote:
wrote:
We have 3 girls and want to know if we have any likelihood of
having a boy next if we conceive again.

I would not bother to worry about whether the sperm have a skewed sex
ratio; the possibilities are far more diverse than that. Ie, avoid
trying to find a needle in a haystack by examining one stalk of hay
with a microscope.

I suggest consulting a genetics counselor. Genetics can cause skewed
sex ratio in offspring, but 3 of 3 children being female is not all
that unlikely. Does the mother's family run to females? Eg, several
generations in which all children are female or, if there are male
children too, the males are not healthy?


I dont want any sperm spinning treatment or want to influence what
might be the outcome of conception artificially. I just want to know
what the likelihood of conceiving one sex over the other is. Surely
there must be a simple test (percentage of x to y sperm) out there that
can be done? And surely this is the best way of determining what the
likely outcome is as this is the only deciding factor on whether the
baby will be a girl or boy?

I dont want any sperm spinning treatment or want to influence what
might be the outcome of conception artificially. I just want to know
what the likelihood of conceiving one sex over the other is. Surely
there must be a simple test (percentage of x to y sperm) out there that
can be done? And surely this is the best way of determining what the
likely outcome is as this is the only deciding factor on whether the
baby will be a girl or boy?


not at all, even if you put a mix of 50/50 g/b sperm into a vagina as they
make the long journey to meet the egg lots don't make it, and for all sorts
of reasons the barriers could cut out more of one sex than another, cervical
mucous is pretty hostile stuff killing of massive numbers of sperm, it may
be that the combination of you and your wife kill off more boy sperm than
girl sperm. Then there are other stages in the process when the exact
combination of you and your wife could make one sex have a much higher
chance than the other, such as female sperm penetrating the egg easier, then
once and embryo is made, male ones my be less likely to implant, there are
just so many variables, that I suspect that determining the proportion in
the sperm is going to tell you almost nothing.


No one has really come up with a convincing explaination, but throughout
history there is clear evidence that some families are heavy in females and
others in males. My dads family for example has 1in4 to 1in5 rate of males
being born historically, and then much lower life expectancy for those
males.

Cheers

Anne

wrote:

I dont want any sperm spinning treatment or want to influence what
might be the outcome of conception artificially. I just want to know
what the likelihood of conceiving one sex over the other is. Surely
there must be a simple test (percentage of x to y sperm) out there that
can be done? And surely this is the best way of determining what the
likely outcome is as this is the only deciding factor on whether the
baby will be a girl or boy?

Given the way sperm are created, there pretty much
*has* to be a 50/50 split, though there may be something
that causes the boy sperm to be less long-lived/successful
in your case. The percentage is most definitely *not* the
only factor that influences the sex of the baby.

Best wishes,
Ericka