by D. Keith Shurtleff

Created on: April 06, 2007   Last Updated: October 31, 2008

It is amazing what two normally rational parents will do to discover their child's gender early on. Even Old Wives tales came in to play with our first pregnancy. We so wanted to know what to expect for all the usual reasons, preparing clothes, referring to her gender, praying for her safe delivery, choosing a name, etc. Knowing what to expect somehow made her more real to us. So, anxious to learn her gender as soon as possible and by any means available, we began to experiment with the Old Wives tales.

First, we did the spit in the Drano test. The theory was if the saliva turned black on contact with the crystals, then you were going to have a boy? We weren't totally clueless though, and after my wife did the test, and observed the black result I tried it with the same result? Hum, that kind of cast doubt on the accuracy of that test.

Next, we tried the needle swinging from a thread in front of the belly. As we had heard it, the concept was that if the needle moved back and forth it was a boy, a girl would be side to side. The problem with our test was it sort of went in a circle, could that mean twins?

Next, we heard if the Mother pokes straight out in front it is a girl, more side to side is a boy. Science latter affirmed that result, at least for our first, though over the years, as each of our eight children came, muscle fatigue seemed to have an effect on that tests accuracy.

Finally, it was time for science to kick in and we had the ultra sound. Even then the doctor was only willing to give us a best guess. I suppose even modern technology can be mistaken, and who wants a "wrongful gender prediction" law suit? We were thrilled to have a daughter first, but would have also been thrilled to have a boy, as we found when he came later. The one lesson we have learned through it all is that while it is great to know ahead of time, you should ALWAYS proceed with guarded optimism. Who can calculate the effect of the disappointment if you have waited several months for a boy and end up with a girl or vice versa, also what boy wants to go through life being named Sue?

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