Article on single moms and gender.some parts may rub you the wrong way.

Yes it is strange especially when I hear how so many people I know struggle so much. I'm now swaying for pink for our last child. I may just be built to have boys but I'm gonna do my best to try none the less.

I am not sure why my mom had 4 girls. Her first was when she was 21 and was naturally very thin, no idea what her diet was like. 2nd was conceived only a few months after having the first, money was tight and she did alot of coupon clipping. Then they waited 8 years before having me. At that point they had more money ate more and she weighed a bit more. Still healthy but not 20 yr old thin. 4th was conceived when I was 7 months old. Maybe my dad just shot girls :)

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Originally Posted by Tomgirl

Well I was a single mom with my first 2, wasn't living with a man when I got pregnant with either one of them and I had 2 boys. Wasn't bedding frequently, both 1 shot wonders and low and behold boys. Number 3 was living with my husband but lots of stress and skinniest I've ever been working hours a day, 1 shot wonder and boy #3 it was. So not true in my case! Although I am just one to many but just goes to show not always true.

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Yes, like everything in swaying, it is just a general trend and in no way a guarantee or magic bullet. It's not any of these things in and of themselves that sway, it's the signal that your body receives from the environment as a whole as to which child has a better chance of survival to pass down the genes. These types of studies are interesting because they give us clues about how to possibly send that signal to our bodies and not because they are in any way surefire.

Also got my first boy when I wasn't living with a man, it was my current partner but we had not been together very long, so also not true for me at least with my first.

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Originally Posted by maidentomother

^^^Wow! Thanks for sharing that, it really does demonstrate how exceptions can occur no matter what. Are you fairly fertile/healthy?

AS, well, my friend DID have a huge crush on me - which I truly wish I could reciprocate as he is a wonderful person, but I just never felt that spark (I think bc he didn't smell sexy to me). From sharing a bed I can vouch that his equipment seem to work just fine, if you know what I mean. He was the one who wanted to cuddle and he wanted to despite how I felt, so I figured it was his choice. But he definitely has a masochistic streak, in more ways than that. I think he has always enjoyed pursuing women who aren't interested in him, as I observed him do so repeatedly.

He also had a vasectomy before I met him, and so maybe that swayed pink, as a reversal probably isn't ever as good as never having had a vasectomy in the first place. I'm sure he knows his T level, he probably checks it several times a month, and it might be on the low side...I will ask next time I talk to him! He likely has some brilliant insights on swaying. Oh, and he is bisexual, if that has any bearing on T levels or sex ratios?

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A lot of gay men have super high testosterone levels themselves so his T levels probably wouldn't tell us too much. In fact there is some data indicating that T levels in utero may even have some role to play in why some males are homosexual (boys born after having had several older brothers are more likely to be gay) There may be some difference in the body's response to testosterone (as evidenced by animal studies) but I wouldn't hang my hat on it! It is interesting as to how it all works. I'm unaware of any studies on gender ratio and having gay parents but would love to read about it.

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Originally Posted by Tomgirl

I am very fertile and healthy and come from a very fertile healthy family so getting pregnant has never been an issue. My mom had 4 girls and now she has 10 grandkids and only 3 are girls.

I'm sure there is some fascinating research out there on bisexuality and T levels and estrogen levels within a man.

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In my experience (keeping in mind I cannot back this up with numbers, it's just my own observations and I don't have a study or anythign) girls from all-female families are overrepresented in the number of all-boy moms who want a daughter.

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Originally Posted by maidentomother

Isn't it strange to feel like super-fertility is a bad thing? Really, it's not, but I wrestle with the whole concept...boy swayers have it so much easier, increasing fertility rather than trying to oh-so-carefully undermine it.

Why do you think your mom had girls?

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Boy swayers struggle just as much if not more than the pink swayers do, because for some blue swayers they literally can't do anything to increase their fertility, it's down to things that probably happened in their or their partners' childhood and that can be tough to correct. That having been said I know of women with 6-8 boys who had daughters and women with 6-8 daughters who had sons (with and without swaying) so no one needs to despair, it is possible for everyone to have both genders.

That's a good point - I hadn't thought of it being like that for boy swaying. I can imagine that would be very frustrating. The grass is always greener...

I didn't know that gay men often have very high T levels but it doesn't surprise me. Bisexuality may be different as it tends to be much rarer among men.

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Originally Posted by atomic sagebrush

In my experience (keeping in mind I cannot back this up with numbers, it's just my own observations and I don't have a study or anythign) girls from all-female families are overrepresented in the number of all-boy moms who want a daughter.

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This is particularly interesting to me (as most of swaying is!). I wonder if we see a higher number only because their desire for a daughter is higher (and they seek help to get what they want) because they crave what the had growing up. Or if there are biological forces at work. Or both! I know it's all totally speculative, on any of this, but fascinating, nevertheless.

That's what I thought at first (that it came from a desire to recreate what was a special experience growing up - I have no full biological sisters and I'm def. jealous!!) But over time I have begun to wonder if there is something more to it than that. A lot of the all girl families in question seem to fall into a weird dynamic where one sister has all girls and the other two, all boys. The oldest one is usually one of the two with all boys. So it's very odd and while of course nowhere near 100%, it's something I would love to be able to study further!