svidh “another of his long ay broken outed rns” and 2 gueion of Tires "ve gat our bys of my owe ain B Rady gl in no we te me sound er, Boy wha you wanton 3 ‘Whether theres more ul otis eary chan mews the ee, we do aout Sometimes oct ous tht eter they ol fame ox hey EiLryeles nigh ave wanted ose bow many people would ake Jacko out of thensehescoplating on all fours ue in broad day- igh whe squinting io the sun. On the tke and She Hes—ond Rar Shettles, LB. and Rervik,D. (2066) Horo +o choose the Sex : Newveuk, NY? Broadus “BookS . Cpp-51-€5) Cor ck Title: ShetHes 23, ‘Tie “Facts of Life’ Revisited |"4-"™ (What You Must Know Before You Attempt Sex Selection) Before you uy to set sex trough “human intervention,” tit ese tial chat you undentand ea how Modher Nature sees. Thee {in be no sucess sexton method without a good understand Sip ofthe way in which sea wen confered in che marl hui of eens Old methods fl Deane hey were hse slmost niely on rly inperer knowledge, geswork, and sometimes se ertiion, Lats review what centr now know about the events hat ‘oul in boys and gi, Mach of iis inating some ofc nothing Shor oF amasing “4° Marks the Gir “V" Marks the Boy As noe in the preceding chapter thar ben suspected fora long ime ‘hor the sein id of the male plays x exci le in bot he Fer ition of he eg and the determination ofthe sex ofthe firing It Wat unl the seeocenh century, however, eat anyone actualy “Uenied the sperm cll inde seminal lid And even then nobody nee for sure wh dey were or what they did. Some though exc cel Contained fly formed though exceedingly ny human baby, wish ‘nce deposited inch wor, would grow ito larger man by. “There continsed for om timer be mo prof that ether emen ofsperm wat required forthe reproductive proces. Experiments with frogs in the cightenthcenary Hnaly demonstrated thar ome par of the seminal id was indeed neceasaryiferliation was to occa Eqn ‘hat were preven fem coming in contact wih semen sinply did Produce adpoes, wheres those es that were exponed to semen did ‘Katt om Baer’ wok inthe 18205 shed further light om he proc Yon Baer disecee female dog in various wages of prepnancy He found embryos (fetind egg) ached che ning ol the womb and later discovered that, eae in pregpancy, the ebay cou be found in che fallopian cubes. He wondered for while these “vale werent ‘wholly she produc ofthe mae: he hough they might have ben ej lated whole, inc the female during intercourse. But then. along the tubes upto the varies of che female dos, he dicovered, in ome ‘of them, bulging flies on she surface of th rai. And inside thee foliles were eggs that looked much like the “ovals” he had been seudying. “More ofthe pure began to fllint place couple of decade ate when other searchers, to working with animal, observed the aca petraton ofthe eg by the Sperm. By the 18701 ic was accepted that ‘his combination of sex cell wat requied fr feilaion and ep duction and th the male and female conbutd about equally to he feet inbertance of the afpring. In 1883 Diene van Beneden Showed more conclusively than anyone eee had tht this was theese when he demonsraed tha the sex cls have anly bef the numberof chromosomes thatthe body cells (ach ar thote that make up skin bone, misc et) conan. Thus you had to get two sex cll to mene in order to produce anew ll wth enough chromosomes ode he development of ew human bing ‘Chromosomes, incase youve Forgot, ar the micosopic units ‘within ell cle that conan the even smaller genes, which, in turn, contain the genetic codes that determine our physi character (eye and hair and skin eaorng et) eis though the combination of male and female sex cell—sperm and egthat new ster cel” oe tombe, is created whic contin the il eof chromosomes needed so produce a new humas beng with a combinasion of genes unique ro tho individual. "an Benen’ discovery. deter, war an important one, Batis ic ell ws how saa determines the sx of the child that resus fro the fertilization ofan egy sperm. Nor diel ur which of che two pests was responsible for tis determination. Ie wasnt long though, before an answer began to be sagged. Studies of hecho roses is eg ell that hal not yer undergone fization showed tha the chromosomes were arranged, within the nucle ofthe gn pean that ll of he pie emed be pecey mache. This was fr tue in the sperm cls, where ane chromosome pan each cell, swisunmatched. One ofthe chromosome inthis odd pe was notice 2hly smal than is pre Researchers were noe sow scion thi “discrepancy” athe pos sible key osx selection. The American aooogist CE. McClung was the fst in 1902, cal hi mismatched ptt ex comowoes” “Thesmallee member ofthe pair wa ferred to asthe “Y”chromesome and the age a he "X" chtomosome, When de sperm calls matured in preparation forthe fling tak, chy divided in hall with the hromoaome pair splicing up tg inc new cll I was hyporesned thacthe¥ chromosome wen ino ane of the new formed spe cle znd the X into another The guess was that egs fried by ¥ sperm ‘woul yield ofping of ane sex and the ee fered by X sperm would yi efping of the he ‘This was confirmed in 1905—bue only inthe lowly meslworm. Dr. IN.M. Steves found shat meabworm va fried by ¥ sper al ‘eloped into male, while those es ela by X sperm al ecame inal took another eweney year 0 show tha this pater ld ve foc a number of more advanced animals, as well No one had yet, proved however, char this wat the pater for humans. Human chro: ‘mosenes, in contract to howe of many Primitive animal, te os har ic wast unsil 1986 that thee number was Bel erable = forse for each body ell and at sweny three foreach excel. Th the 1950s Dr.John Rock of Hard and De Landrum Shares‘of Columbia Bame the fist ecarchers to watch che complete procs ‘of human conception under their microscopes. Through vaio la ory echniqus, the sperm bearing the X chromesome eoulé be Show, a lt to produce gis andthe sperm earyng the V chrome some could be sown o produce boys ‘The "Queen Mother of Cells” Lt Took now at how egg and sperm come together and how seal ideo conferred in the proces. We begin withthe human eg ot ‘ram, which De Shere as ele the “Queen mother of cll Tag ivan 3p abel, fr there is someshing regal about the ovum Like the ‘ueen anor qucen bee, the queea lira antes at lest when om, pared with other ells e weighs a taggting ath of a milonth of os tunce and measures abou Voth ofan inch in dameter This mast lage enough oe sen by the asked ye, provided that ees oper imal condition. The eg is queen in another sexpece, to. mans at ‘serene pace and isartended by aetinue of ldirin wating” at zing of eer cel, each of which was once a candidate 4 Become 2 {use an gg bur was “pase over” fr one reton or another These “use cell,” as heya sometime allo, elaster around the ques, roeting and nosishing er she makes erway fom the vey ing and dowa the flopian be, A git at binh, already passes more hana allio pine cep call inher ovaries. By the tine she mats there wil be ony fee ‘hundred thousand ofthese le, the eer having died off ove the ears Among the survivors, only fw handed wll have any el ‘hance of illite destinies, Candas For Fertlization dan be {in emerging until afer pubergs when the pity gland nthe bes ‘rete hormones thts: in motion complex series of biochem vents. It is under the guidance ofthese hormones thatthe il begin ‘o maruteinioa womas andthe ele eprodactve, or mesa oy le commences. The avege menstrual le is evenny-ight days in length (Ovelacion—emergence ofthe eg fim the ovary occur about rad way through the ecle—on avenge a day fourteen. The eg erupts from she file onthe surface ofthe ovary an around Sy some fre thousand of its muse ells, is picked up by haike projections of| the fillopian cube and chen swepe into the tbe, trough wth it muse pst on es ourmey downto the worn, Qa its way do te tabs the sep sheds some of shimmeting corona radiata tha surounding halo comprised of clinging nurse cll Tt begins ro “under in eect hoping for a endervus witha sperm cll somewhere inthe be Hehe queen i “ood up—thar no strs arive to curt er— 1's los. An egg cll thac came into being decades eur and bas “ite” li life for his moment only tobe disappored in love wil proceed ro the womb and peish thre, The same hormonal proceoss ‘that timed the vary and cased oralacion also prepa the bing of the womb forthe posible aval of fetid eg by hickening & sod making it more receptive. Buti the egg ars serine, he “he is sipped ava. The succulent cell that have lind the wombs seady to nourish new if are expelled via menstuaton, or whee he woman calls her period.” Then the proces stars all eve sui wath the seat monthly cycle. Pehaps the next would sucee wl be Icke, Millions of Sperm in Pursuit of One Egg ‘The sperm cll are quite fee from the va. Sperm, to, however slready ex in great numbers athe ime the male bar, These pis, itv sperm cells are dorman within the tubules of che reste he ale ser guns, unl pub, when, agin unde the dection of compen hovmona instructions, they begin to mulhih—at the rte of sbowe 300 milion per dy. A single male ejaculate may contin ss many at ‘one blion spermatozoa. Quite an amy, cosiering the fat that they will be out to feliz one eg! And since only one sper aually encrates she gg this oo, fit blush, ike mae “vell™ Infact, however the in pets el have got thee work cut ut for them. Only very few will ever et neu he og Spe weigh oly Yr as much the egg and though they ze longer than asaide (he pic sperm i about Youth ofan inh i length. mos of {hat eng iin the while al. Thee sn el hae to gt the ‘rough a formidable etic ofobscle courses, Mor of hem de along the way IC only seer aumbers that make eration 3 ows all Sperm ella are the small calls in the body Ie as been estimated thar al ofthe eggs that were equied to produce che ene popalason| ofthe word day could be cocaine ina single cookie jx. By com ‘rst yu could put ll ofthe sperm required for che sume jb ito 3 ‘hime “The touber thee diminutive soldiers face cop up he instant they ae jaalted into the emale eproctive ace They dong tenly ico the “outside” world cushioned and encased by protective muse cals the eg Tnsead, as De. Shes i fond of ying they ae booted out “stripped co dhe shorts" They ae designed for speed more than for saying powes. Dr Shetles ha lo likened them to simon ‘ha must evi upateam for many wiles apse 4 atong curene ‘Mae that an aide current. The vaginal envionment ends 0 be acidic, dhough ie becomes somevhat more altaline—and ths 3 bit more recpeve—the closer one gets to ovulation, nacues way of giving the spe 2 ping hand. Even then, though, the secretion can be hoa 2 great many ofthe speom in any gen eau die in the ‘vagina aly quickly. ‘Sperm that are “booted” all he way othe bck ofthe vagina ofen ave a bere chance of surviving ad geting othe gf The weretions ‘naret the opening ofthe womb (the cert) tend ro be more allalne Sill even the spe deposited near the cris ave o bet thai fo ‘oly eo ge ough the icky sel of Bd that iting ofthe cervix, Those thar do ge inside the womb ae ill ightng adverse cue ents as they srg towed the opening of he fllpia ees. Then ‘hey have to make «choice. Which tube should they choose? The ‘wong chic wil roe fal for sur. “The sperm cls hive no “ada” or other magical means of knowing ich ube harbors the og. Very recently some new reach as sg (ted tha che egg may emi what amounts oa kind of molec pe. ‘The Emergence of » Scantiie Sex Selection Method | 6s fame” tae the perm can “el.” (The implications of his for sexs [eon and contaception ate discus in the Aerword of his book) ‘Many go the wrong way. Tho that pick the vight channel ar fr rom ome fe. The utenti gains them. Th isthe se current— consiing of mscla coneractins of the cbal walls che downvard Sieaming of ovarian and other Aids, and the cin beating of aii le that line che walle of the ruber—cat helps propel the epg, dw ward toward dhe womb, Theres ae not sod canduis dee wall ve coundesr litle reeses and dead ends thae tap many of the sperm. Then dete ae the feral white Blood cll these Fete ca ngs may swoop down a any moment and ltecly gobble up the sperm cll which re ete ike anyother foreign “nvr I i th ke a video game. The hero—the sperm call—has 10 ge 10 the Unley ofthe egg le fighing raging carrenes and acids, cevesng ‘ricky whiool, voiding dead ends and dodging ker ells And the "lock sunning al the tine Nether the epg nor the sperm ells can lve fo ong, (Only a ow hundred sperm, or «few thousand at mos, acl snake coatact with the ogg, Some charg Highton by, missing the giant [pa henereakng hae The Gc thas fe ex ose gg maybe part of nature's design. All of thowe obmacier we've spoken of may bea reas of separating the men fom the boys, 20 tse, 50th only the Fie survive and have any chance of becoming the quer ons. “The fetes ofthe spern ay gett the og in only 3 few hous. OF courte egg haben led fram he oar Ye, the sperm may fave made ther arin journey in vain Some wil be song enough to "waitatound” in oper tha the gg wil il show up, a which poi Feilizaion may acurA few pariclal hardy sperm ny survive for sp of dye, though mor wil noe. “The Dance of Love Under ideal circumstance gad sperm mee, head-on, somewhere in the upper potion of the filopia tbe. The sperm ells erally bore Jo the eg; having come shir, they do not wai fran ination.64 I How to Choose the Sex of Your Baby ‘The egg, as it cums out, has a tough hide, and so the sperm have to Whip their tails vigorously, hoping to be the fst to pencrrae the outer layers ofthe egg and thus gain exclusive admittance into the ges inner sanctum. And we do mean exclusive, because once one of the sperm calls pases beyond a certain point within the ege itis as ifthe queen says, “Thats my man! and then flips a switch that locks out al other would-be kings. The “front runnes,” who has more than foot i the door ar this poine, keeps on going, penetrating ever more deeply into the egg. The others come up against an invisible wall and, try though, they might, can't go any farther. ‘The sight ofall of this—under the microscope—is quite remarkable As the winning sperm moves on inside, proceeding toward the targer— the nucleus ofthe egg—the other hundreds or thousands of sperm con- tinue to whip their tails—smcbronously. ‘This creates an undulating effect, looking rather like tll grass dancing in the wind. And the effect of this phenomenon is to make the egg rotate wich increasing speed and always in a clockwise direction, Dr. Shettles calls this spectacle “the dance of love.” The unsuccessful suitors go on whipping things up un. Ul they die of exhaustion. Meanwhile their frantic activity seems to ie au: helping to propel the egg, now inthe process of merg ing with the single sperm cell that penetrated the interior, a an exc, faster clip down the tube toward the eagerly awaiting womb, “The single sperm that gets all che way inside is declared the winner, in effect, when i gets through the clear oute layer, or cytoplasm, of the £88: Once ic gets beyond that point, biochemical evens are set in moe ‘ion that keep the other speem from going any farther A violene vibes, cone nats within the eytoplasm—almost as if the egg is having an orgasm. The sperm penetration also stimulates the egg to ‘undergo its final maturation process. The sperm, on the way tothe cenver of ne new jniers, sheds its “nose cone,” the apparatus that helped it get inside in the first place, and also its tail, which has now served ieg purpose ad- mirably. The Emergence of # Scientific Sex-Selection Mathod | 65 ei make contact; their mem- a respectful pace. Slowly the two pronuclei mal ; rae begin o disolve atthe poine of contact, and the marrage of chromosomes commences. First they intermingle, then they form into pairs. Together, these forty-six chromosomes form the nucleus of a new call and, in fact, a new human life ‘The sex of that new human life is determined entirely by the type of sperm that wins the race and merges with the egg, Twenty-two of the sperm chromosomes match up with twenty-two of the ege’s chromo- somes to determine all bodily characteristics—except for sex. The one some and the one remaining egg chromosome remaining sperm chromosome and pair up to determine sex. The egg always contributes an X sex chromo- some t0 this pais. Sperm, however, may contribute either X or Y sex chromosomes. If the winning sperm carries an X, chen the resulting pair will have to be XX, which, to the geneticist, spells gird If on the other hand, the winning sperm carries a Y, the result will be XY, which means boy. . So much for Mother Nature's method. Now let's move on to the Shettles method.First Order of Business: How to Determine the Time of Ovulation “Whether you wants hy or gi he mos imporan hing you muse Adis gue out when you ora The imingaf intercourse relative 10 ‘heme of orlasion ithe mast eral cto in selecting ether a boy ra git For boy, you wil ime ingercoure to euncide 5 eloey 26 ponble with vation. Foe «gi, you wl ime inerouse a east Fagin wih, three fill ay before ovation, "fo eview bre what we stated in caer capers: Intercourse chat curs a or Heat the time of ralaon fore the smal, faster, Yer ing le producing) sperm, whereas ittcourse chat occurs well be fore orlton fivors hele, bude, X-bearng (female producing) sperm, which ae slower but ae able vo survive Tonge inthe more wade prenulatory environment. There ae ater factors involved, thick we dissin dhe exe ow chapters bt ining the esence of sev sdlection "Te its se available without prescription that measur the evel of 4 particular hormone exceed i wine, a hormone that signals the on fof events leading to oman, We have oo sy inthis chapter About these ovlaton prediction ks, many of which can be quite 3 ‘uate if used property ‘We hasten to adds howeve dat hese kt ae not the magi ull” thac take al she pusowor out of pnpoining vustion time, Weve‘scl of er about thse and ities : 1 a inerpeing and etheric mating tees Thy we deed seal fr ec ele br, er ad on a {uly planing ily probleme and sean Hey ope shin shischaper wet yu hor deta ct ous heey evant tomy freon Een enon They a gen anda muy pote ate not necessary. * The uh ofthe mer the il tet the il in lf method of aig wh stoke ceri the tin oon a Een lbrny boo stan eend ostninge sey eee tae sam, be woll be both impeacaia? and vary eapeage toe the ab ets done ona rel bass Nose See tion ds beteer than ever before—and most women wil withthe ita EOas we Provide, be able to determine their ovulation ine one improved accuracy, == Nh echacogs able orn ome we een hse wonee who have highly inegla o Tae tas Hie ieee eet hold ow ej a peer How the Menstrual Cycle Works woe anne jen moe asc ens separ hapa aerial tet eh ste The tng coast ef aes oily bre ncn ne ee pe ome pm hee ke eo Your perio, and you should consult your doce mi your doctor if ou mis your po (Onc he psig is vera structure lil” inthe vary begin to fgets peping forthe reese ofthe eg tha consined within [lise event re under the control of hormones, which re urna te and off appropiate times by the hypothlams and picutary tlds ofthe brain. Once che fle hein ripening ic less a hor fee of is ownrmesttagen. Ic is the etoge, in ft, ha lp ur the bleeding off and promones healing ofthe urine lining. Estogen help eet the womb ready for another attempe at pregnancy. I ao aks the evil secon more hospitable pest a oation ap proaches. The frst half fhe menstrual ele, dominated avi by the rari lice and the erogen ic prods, i ofen cle the fly laephase of he pe ‘ua itsel—the acral een of the from the alld simulated by another ptuiary hormone called the linisng hor pene (LH). Other hormones have “pened” the og and Brought the erfce ofthe vay where bulges outward in is fle, LH, wich surges some hour before avlation occur, gives the ep te x {ta st neds ro bust fom the fille and pas ino he fillopian tube where if pregoancy 10 acct mt be Frlined by sper. (le isthe LH, by the way, that the ovulation peeicion kis vec in urine Samples, which are eed ealey daring he Fer peiod ofthe Sle. By bing able eo el when the LH surge gins, ial possible, in many aes, wo predic when ovation most likely to ocr) Aer the LH surg, the peaking of suogen, and oalaon have accord, the now-egpes alice assumes anew deny a he corpus item, of “yellow body" which ie what it rsembles The corpus ute 2 ae ‘ure on che surface ofthe ovary tha begins sorting new hormone ‘ight ater ovation ake pce That hormone i progesterone. The second al ofthe cyle—thepostoraltry particle the luca phase of the eee afer the corpus lum and eh progesterone that i produces, Progeterone cases rapid development of the er omer lining ofthe womb, sich thar it wil be able to ald and nourish a leila egg should one show up. The progeteone has umber of cs, One of thesc—particualy important eo would-besex econ isp changeset hsv Cres king cmt dieu fo perm to pene no ole tcp te eg eed nth eure of he ena Cg then the corps uc “hu dow? and wither athe Stone ot Ee bea prpsing od lig he Tg of the Tom pol per inl Th gle went nt degeent ands. soe vin he monly ed “pr One end fe np a seg ces ereny-ih days beiaing wih he often snd ange dy before tng ag mew the ftavof thr arto The oneag day of oston ay Vs maleny thmugh te le Bur plea or cha we at ng the wed nee tere: Mon women deste Se othe mide the en ta ‘thee isl considerable variability fiom woman to woman, and even within individual women, from month to month. " foe women ave tcl gular lth gh of whi cana peed fom mth oath ome oe mi. tes ror coment logon Cer of wef ae na doles oft days Genera hgh shee oe ep Ir than leg and ose women can Grn par, Bren tho wth ih ear le, howee mas be te a ars fos of pal and pcan les, change feng sere ing hel nd soon can een rans el ‘The pod cw tas onan of he wth spl le can ssl deermine te probable ine of ondon within india ces The comple chemi evens hat ecardsing the eye a de te cngh oan nee n pyle cange can te dered fica with coder accra, ight in he home ersnow sc ihe diene moods of dteminiog ne of ny Iain, We wart wt he cer cs (CMD) tod wich nj of won, sl provides the mon el sad pce info tration ae lowe eet Then ne a abot bal ody tempers {BT tang which hen wed propery cna be ey hep ‘ipodally in toen wich mopular or Bisiy pur egies "Ut retary snend tha women we both methods during the “es” eles in which Tho try to devermin cher dine of evan “(fer weve disused these oo methods, we xamine the ouaton- ration kis, wich ca be sed in conjuson wih CM and BBT Frode atid source of information. Well ell you bow to coordi eel these methods. And i one method docs’ work for You, then another isk todo “Jome may wonder why we dnt 7 with the ovuaionprediton sis ince they atthe newest development a based on dhe teste cops aad claim such high succes ts (0 10 100 prene), There wea contine emphasize CM and BBT ate many. Among, er thngy, thea kts ean be enpensve,aough che ries ae om ihe dows ito the $15-0-540per-month rng. In addon, the su wae rc cimed fr them slate merely co sucess in ientijing the «ee ere period ofthe mens cc Since that can lene wo rahe dae in many case he precio ofthese res, expecially ‘hey ate geerly ued sno always sufiient c yild the desired Ui ins slecion, Well ell you how co use she este propery ifyou pero ue chem, and we deny dhose women mos ikl 1 bent fom them. or nom les bgin withthe red and rae Remember, the igh sue ces re ave reported verte years as been obtained wing fs hyde BIT and then, in more cent year, the CM meta i com junction with BBT chang ‘The Cervical Mucus Method For many yat. researches incading Dx. Sheds though thar dhe crnpenture method of cating the ele and determining ovulation Cine was the mos rele, The temperate method i il useil and AM be deserted a more del shor, bu it docs have certain dad Menage A beter method, one tht has been proving inl ema TRrctie ara means of natural ferry contol (both 0 aoid snd “thie pregnancy depending on one goals) les on observation of he combed mac ae waigus times during the monthly eye,