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A baby boy or a baby girl?? Again, but now with some more fascinating additions.

Fascinating new article [from the internet] 

See below again the article from a former alon  בן או בת ??? [A baby boy or a baby girl??] but now in English [was published in Hebrew]

See also some tips to increase fertility.

February 2011 [from the internet]

Bananas 'reduce chance of giving birth to girl'

Reducing the amount of salt and bananas women eat during pregnancy could increase their chances of giving birth to a girl, according to a new study.

The right combination of food types, as well as the timing of sex, are key factors which determine the gender of a baby, according to the study by researchers from Maastricht University in the Netherlands, reports the UK Mail.

Calcium and magnesium-rich foods increase the chances of conceiving a girl, the study found.

These include hard cheese, rhubarb, spinach and tofu.

Women should avoid eating sodium and potassium-rich foods in order to have a girl.

Couples who have regular intercourse [tashmish] but not on days immediately before or after ovulation also increase their chances of having a girl, the scientists found.

They conducted a five-year study involving 172 European women aged between 23 and 42 who all had boys and wanted to conceive a girl.

"The results show that both diet and timing methods increase the probability of a girl - the impact of the diet being the most pronounced," said a spokesperson for the scientists.

Now a few collected tips [I wrote already about the importance of high vitamin B12 levels,folic acid ,vitamin D etc in connection with pregnancy]

-Red clover blossom [Trifolium pratense] contains several estrogen-like compounds which may promote fertility in estrogen-deficient women. [Duke, J. A. Handbook of Medicinal Herbs: 489. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press, 1985]

-Vitex agnus castus is often used to help infertility caused by a luteal phase defect (a shortening of the post-ovulatory part of the menstrual cycle): Women taking vitex for three months appear to have more success at becoming pregnant.[with this a have a lot of experience]

-Strict adherence to a gluten-free diet has enabled many women who were previously unable to conceive to become pregnant. 

-Women who drank more than one cup of coffee a day reduced their likelihood of conceiving by 50%, and men who drank two to three cups of coffee a day had an increased incidence of abnormally formed sperm. Having five cups a day appears to make sperm sluggish as well

-High fier diet

-Pumpkin seeds

-Para-aminobenzoic acid[PABA] sometimes restores fertility to some women who cannot conceive [according to Dr Wright in many cases?]

He writes:”This safe, frequently effective remedy is para-aminobenzoic acid, or PABA, often classified as a member of the B-vitamin complex. In the 1940s, Dr. Benjamin Sieve published results from research involving 16 women, all of whom had been unable to achieve pregnancy for over five years. All 16 women took 100 milligrams of PABA four times daily for three to seven months. Twelve of the 16 became pregnant. And since I began recommending this treatment in the 1970s, I've observed PABA to be effective for over 50 per cent of the women who've tried it.”

Article from former alon : now in English

A baby boy or a baby girl??

Without new technologies where one could possibly manipulate the “preference for a boy or girl”

it is clear that only the Holy One decides who will come on this earth.

But as there seems to be a hint / remez in the Torah -in past weeks parshat Tazria[-Metzora-] about the “mechanism” of which

gender will be born, I would like to write you some fascinating insights about this issue.

[I could not have done this clearly without seeing the commentary on the second verse of Tazria [from the Artscroll book:

Sforno: commentary on the Torah by Rav Pelcovitz ][ beautiful explanation of the commentary of the Sforno]

As you may know Sforno was also a doctor and lived in Italy [ later in his life in Bologna ] where he taught Torah and where he

practiced medicine and was famous as a doctor till the end of his life [ 1550] .

Indeed about this issues of gender and time of tashmish [ intercourse] there have been written as far as I remember some popular

works in the past touching on the main principles and I suppose that there will be also quite a bit of Jewish literature about this

which I am nor aware of.

I sent you a while ago an E-mail about some basic principle of genetics and I will try to send with this E-mail as an attachment of

the “genetic article"[so that I don’t have to explain again too much about chromosomes here]

I copy now the second verse of parshat Tazria

2 Speak unto the children of Israel, saying: If a woman conceives ["tazria in hebrew"], and bear a man-child,

then she shall be unclean seven days; as in the days of the impurity of her sickness shall

she be unclean.

Our Rabbis interpreted this verse as to indicate that if a women first "emits seed”[zera,which is contained in the word tazria

means : seed] a baby-BOY is likely to be born.

Emits seed must mean here of course : ovulation [biutz]

The language of commentary of the S'forno on this verse is not easy to understand but it is beautifully explained by Rav Pelcovitz

[where he acknowledge the assistance of Dr. Fred Rosner and Rav David Cohen]which I will explain now-with little changes-with

my own words .

If the women ovulates first before the man emits its seed [sperm] then the egg of the women will already have lost some of its

“vitality” when the man emits its seed[ejaculates] and the sperm of the man will be dominant[=stronger] in comparison to the

"already a few hours/days older" egg.

If the women ovulates later -after the man emits his seed- then the opposite will be the case: the male seed [sperm] may loose

some of its potency and the egg will be dominant.

What is known for long is that the vaginal fluid in the women is normally acid [low ph][chumtzit]

When she ovulates the vaginal fluid becomes [more] alkaline.

Now read carefully, please:

Remember that the “seed” of man and women are different:

The egg contains 2 X chromosomes and sperm one X and one Y chromosome. The woman can only contribute an X , the man an

X or Y.

An X from the woman may combine with an X from the man ……XX = a girl or with anY from the man………XY = a boy

[In other words: only the Y will give rise to a boy if it melts with the X chromosome of the woman but if the X chromosome from the

man melts with one of the X chromosomes of the woman a girl will be the result]

The Y chromosome is not very “happy” in an acid enviroment

If the vaginal fluid is acid [that is before the ovulation!] then there is a big chance that the male Y chromosome of the sperm

[which decides if there will be a boy] will not survive in this acidity and that the surviving X chromosome from the man will join the X

chromosome from the woman which will result in a baby-girl.

As we said before during ovulation the vaginal fluid becomes more alkaline and the Y chromosome [which prefers an alkaline

environment] has suddenly a far bigger chance of surviving] so that it can join now with the X chromosome of the women and we

get a boy [XY]

Now it becomes medically understandable what the Torah means if it states:

If a woman conceives [tazria], and bear a man-child............Read as follow to understand the verse: If a women tazria[in

Hebrew=gives off her seed first = ovulates first................ the result will be [very likely] a male child!]

This is because the condition in the vagina after ovulation will give rise to an alkaline environment[caused by the

ovulation] and the Y chromosome will have a far better chance to survive and combine with the woman X chromosome [ XY

= boy]

As this is a real Torah subject, combined with medical ideas I would be happy to receive any comment from you which may

enlighten things further .

B”H -time allowing and if I find further proper material I would like to write you may be some more about this subject in the future

and I also would be happy to receive any articles from you- if you know about them- written on the "boy-girl" subject , as mentioned

above.

Shabbath shalom !

And for Purim….no need to get into halachic discussions if you may dress "men or women like" …..just eat or stay away from certain foods.........!