So you’re ready to have a family, and would like to load the odds in favor of one sex or the other. How do you go about the whole thing?

Since most couples have the basics down, we won’t provide a how-to guide here, but there are certain things that not only affect fertility in general, but also the sex of the child-to-be.

First, there is the age-old argument of who influences the sex of the child more: man or woman. That depends on how you look at it. Woman cannot contribute to making a boy, since she possesses only the X chromosome for females. Men, on the other hand, have both X and Y sperm. If X hits the egg first, you’ll have a girl. If Y wins the race, you’re going to have a boy.

That’s the modern scientific “evidence”. Back in the really old days, you had nonsense like the Greek philosopher Anaxagoras, who declared in the 5th century, that the right testicle sired boys, and the left, girls. Even before that, in 800B.C., one of the first sex manuals, the Caraka Samhita, recommended turning the woman on her right side after sex, because male children developed in the right side of the uterus.

That’s the modern scientific “evidence”. Back in the really old days, you had nonsense like the Greek philosopher Anaxagoras, who declared in the 5th century, that the right testicle sired boys, and the left, girls. Even before that, in 800B.C., one of the first sex manuals, the Caraka Samhita, recommended turning the woman on her right side after sex, because male children developed in the right side of the uterus.

Now, one of society’s increasingly abhorred habits, smoking, is being cited as an enhancement and deterrent to having children of a certain sex, or having children at all.

New Scientist magazine published an article in the April 2002 edition, citing smoking as more likely to get you a girl. Why? Because apparently the male sperm are more sensitive to the chemicals in smoke/cigarettes, and die off in the millions, leaving the field clear for the X sperm to have their way.

Then again, another 2002 study put out by the American Society for Reproductive Medicine and the Canadian Fertility and Andrology Society, found that in 290 participating couples, smokers had less sex, lower sperm counts, and took longer to conceive.

Your best bet? The old-fashioned way. At least then, you have a 50% chance of getting the sex of the child you want.