Today’s interesting article on Channel News Asia – “Choosing of baby’s gender forbidden in Singapore”
Modern science can assist parents in choosing their unborn baby’s gender.
But selecting the gender of one’s unborn baby is not allowed in many Asian countries, including Singapore, except under exceptional conditions.
why are boys the arrows and girls the plus?
It’s really news to me to know that sciences can now influence the gender in an unborn baby, and to summarize a good article the findings on the net – it is all about the weight differences between the Y chromosomes (which is lighter, and gives a boy), and the X chromosomes (which is heavier, and gives a girl). Thus a sperm carrying the Y chromosomes will be lighter than sperm carrying the X chromosomes. Filter the desired sperm out, do an IVF or other fertilization techniques, and you get the gender of your choice.
Of note, one of the interesting methods is the Spin Method – putting sperm in a centrifuge machine, spinning it fast, therefore the sperm at the bottom of the tube is girly sperm and the sperm at the upper part of the sediment would be the boyish stuff.
So, I was thinking, given China’s occupation with bearing a boy during her pre-modern times (read : infanticide), if the Chinese were to have this little tidbit of a fact that the X chromosomes would be heavier than the Y chromosomes, and a crude knowledge of the Spin Method, what might have come to pass?
Imagine the situation – a Chinese couple would like to have a child. They know these facts. So before lovemaking, the husband will go swing round a tree at high speeds, until he felt his balls almost being yanked off. Then they’ll proceed to the fun part – the sex. Since the spermatozoa carrying the Y-chromosomes would have filtered out to the top by virtue of the tree swinging, when the husband ejaculates, there’s a higher chance that the Y-chromosomes would be the first batch to start the race, thereby yielding a boy. If they wanted a girl, the husband on first ejaculation will have to restrain, pull out and stain the sheets, and then go for Round Two, which means having a higher chance of conceiving a girl.
Also, another interesting theory comes to mind. Since the Y-chromosomes (boy) carrying sperm are lighter, would not it mean that after insemination, if a woman is standing up or lying at a slightly inclined position, the Y-chromosomes sperm would reach the eggs faster? The Y-spermatozoa are lighter after all, thus not being so bogged down by gravity as the X-spermatozoa, would reach its goal faster all things being equal.
With the Y-spermatozoa having such a distinct advantage, over time, it should naturally be over time that males will outnumber females by a significant amount (read : sex ratio). Fortunately, males also have a propensity to take bigger risks, kill themselves, have shorter lifespans, and generally engage in a whole lot of activities that endanger their mortality. As such, it balances out after awhile.
So, the big question – in Singapore’s context, is having a boy more advantageous than a girl? I would think not, for 3 nain reasons :
- Girls get a two years headstart in careers, because they do not have to serve National Service.
- If a girl is attractive, she can get a lot of freebies in life by virtue of guys rushing to treat her – thus over time accumulating more wealth.
- Women in the workforce are more capable than ever; their ability to multitask well, affinity towards understanding body language, emotions, and able to participate in political cat fights with better chances of winning than most men.
Unfortunately, it is illegal to choose the gender of your baby in Singapore. HOWEVER, it is not illegal to get your husband to first spin around the tree like a madman, if he wants to get it on later in the night. 
