Choosing sex of baby with certainty has become more possible during the last twenty-five or so years. This is mainly due to the steady progress made in the field of gender or sex selection, and the work done to make it possible for a couple or a prospective mother to have either a boy or a girl by preference. What should people who are thinking about baby gender selection know, then?

To begin with, attempting gender selection is a way of trying to choose a girl or a boy before getting pregnant. It uses a variety of methods to increase the odds of having a baby of a sex that’s most desired. And depending upon the method chosen, it’s possible these odds can reach nearly 100 percent under the right circumstances.

On the market are a number of non-medical or clinical over the counter sex selection kits which promise to help proper gender occur. Most use different natural substances to bring about changes in the body chemistry of the prospective mother and father, which is thought to make the odds of having a boy or girl – depending upon body chemistry type – much higher. This approaches 96 percent, in many cases.

Actual clinical processes revolve around a variety of techniques. One, called “MicroSort,” delineates male sperm in such a way as to examine the DNA (Deoxyribonucleic Acid) for small differences that are present and which are believed to lead to either a male or female child.

Once the sperm has been categorized into those sperm cells which will lead to a male or a female, the next phase in the procedure uses either IUI (intrauterine insemination) or IVF (in vitro fertilization) to emplace fortified (or “enriched”) sperm cells into the female’s womb, for one. Or (in IVF), a ripe egg from the female is fertilized with the sperm and placed in the womb. There’s a 92 percent success factor for girls and a lower rate of 81 percent for boys.

The MicroSort success rate first presupposes a successful pregnancy, though the rate of pregnancy using IUI is at nearly 16 percent and IVF at 32 percent. These pregnancy rates are typical, and in line with just about any other method of insemination with the aim of successful pregnancy. So, once pregnancy has been brought about, the chances of having either a boy or a girl, by preference, is very good.

For people who want to have a gender-specific child, there have never been more choices as they pertain to procedures for doing so. And medical science has made the odds of sex selection success better than ever. Remember, though, to take some time to research these procedures and processes very carefully before deciding on any particular method of gender selection.