That the sex of the baby has been tremendously important throughout history, is something that has been recorded in her. Wars have taken place due to the simple and derisory fact that there is no male, or more than one with the same rights, to warm the cold thrones of this and many other countries. Even today there are places where being born under one sex or another guarantees one rights or others (or not having any).
That is why it is not surprising that in ancient times fortune tellers and even the occasional scientist proliferated, who wasted their time, and the money of others, on methods and theories on how to get a baby of one or another sex. We return with our series about those wonderful years and we will introduce you Five ways to make sure a male child, 100 years ago.
It would be necessary to say, in defense of those named below, that no matter how doctorate and studies they had, the knowledge about biology at that time was far from those we now have.
Science is for those who have no imagination
Our first doctor in the field is Laura Davis, who wrote The Sex Determination Law and its practical application in 1916, after thirty years of practical observation of their own experiences. Who wants mathematical formulas if he can go into practice.
Well, this lady determined that if you want to have a male child you just have to choose the right ovary. How do you stay? Five girls and everything was that you didn't use the right ovary.
Choose an ovary
We continue with the ovarian selection. According to Davis, if the lady from the previous point, the ovaries determined the sex of the baby, so the right ovary generated eggs that resulted in males and those on the left side would give females.
And how do I get my child dressed in blue? Well, very easy, using gravity, which at that time was very fashionable. If a couple wanted a male, they only had to lie on their right side so that the sperm would move towards that point. See how easy? And you raising your legs vertically. So there is no way to know which ovary the sperm goes to.
Percy John McElrath who wrote the Code for sex control in 1911 shared the same theory, said that after an insemination the woman should remain lying for three to four hours, it is clear that this technique is not valid for "a here I catch you, here I kill you ", on the side where the ovary is maturing the ovule. If you do not know which ovary you are working on, then you must choose the side on which one is most comfortable (all very scientific as you can see) and stay that way for five or six hours. So from the account that brings them, it is better that they know which ovary is working that day.
Weakening oneself
Let's see how I explain this. Henri Médile Gourrier did not believe that the severity and much less the ovaries had anything to do with the sex of the baby and back in 1886 determined that the sex of the baby was determined by the sex that at the time of conception was the weakest.
"If there are marked signs of weakness in one of the sexes, this sex occurs naturally, without any effort," said Gourrier.
So if a man wanted to have a male child he had to weaken, by what he called his "weakening diet." It consisted of fine soups, white meats, such as beef, chicken and lamb; Corn starch and pasta, vegetables and in summer, fruits. To drink: water and soft tea. If a person wishes to achieve a greater degree of weakness, it is necessary to restrict the diet, exercise, and bathe frequently with warm water.
So you know, if your husband has left the deodorant and throws the day sitting on the couch, having a child is going to be very complicated.
In case the "weakening regimen" does not "weaken" enough to have a male, the doctor allows his patients to exercise more and drink a glass of wine. If the "Y" chromosome still resists us (be careful, at least for the two girls and on the way to a large family) we should have aperitif drinks (I imagine it should refer to a sweet wine of the time) and Exercise until we get tired. (Go, just as one usually ends after one, what do they call it? Ah, yes, insemination.)
Although to have a male, it is clear that Mr. Médile is not going to return our money, it is having sex when one is going through a dangerous illness. So the next time the mercury rises to 39 and you are confirmed that one of your daughters has infected you with a rotavirus, do not waste time asking for time at the doctor, that anyway being a viral being will not be able to prescribe anything that I cured him, and get in bed with his partner for that child, don't be a big man.
If after all these tests, we still see no tail in the ultrasound, we are sorry but you and your partner are doomed to a life between skirts and ties. Courage, it's not the end of the world.
Let's not blame dad
In 1911, Simon Newcomb, made a statistical study on the births of 1900 reaching two conclusions:
The body has no idea what is happening and therefore the sex of the baby is not selected at a given time, but is the sum of a set of actions that cause a baby to be of one sex or another . It is what is called a "I go out by the tangent".
The father does not have a sexual intervention in this matter, that is, the sex of the baby is selected exclusively by the mother.
As you will understand in 1900, you will not claim that a man accepts any guilt in this type of action.
Orgasmic Rupture
Percy John McElrath I might not know much about women, but I was sure I knew how to get a child. He believed that children result specifically by the intervention of the Graaf follicle in the ovary. To have a male child, it was necessary to break the follicle before and the best way to do that was to have an orgasm. Well, at least here it doesn't sound bad.
It must be achieved that the sperm reaches the ovule before it ages and for this, attention that now curves come, we must ejaculate at the same time that the female orgasm occurs and Graf's follicle is broken. (Do not protest that you are not asking them to lift their right leg and recite Gongora while.) This orgasm causes the follicle to rupture a few days before it did so naturally. Once the insemination is done, it is not recommended to repeat this act, because it is known that the woman's orgasm is able to prevent the fertilized egg from adhering to the wall of the uterus. Why didn't they know this? And you asking for the morning after pill and all you had to do is keep playing.
McElrath was contrary to Gourrier and claimed that only strong men could father male children. So for that he had his own strengthening diet, which consisted of potatoes, getting away from women and washing his testicles daily.
The definitive method of fathering male children according to Mr. McElrath was to follow a starch-based diet for two or three months, stay away from women all this time, and exercise constantly. Five days before the semen must be expelled once a day, more times not that that is already vice, to make sure that the sperm is the strongest and that the man can get the woman to orgasm.
To summarize the technique: Avoid women, both before and after conception. They are mythical creatures constantly trembling on the edge of orgasm, capable of controlling their ovulatory system at will. Also, don't forget to masturbate. That way, if you're lucky, you only have to have sex once to ensure the spread of the glory of manhood.
But we don't stay on the surface. All these people tried to reach a conclusion, they tried to explain, with the methods and knowledge of that time, the reason for the sex of babies.
