The Chinese calendar is based on the phases of the moon. Can you harness the Chinese gender chart's power to get the baby boy or baby girl you really want?
As promised, here is MyMommaToldMe’s second installment of influencing the gender of your baby! We already went over the scientifically-based Shettle’s method and now let’s discuss the astrologically-based Chinese method: the Chinese Gender Prediction Chart/Calendar. So, bottom line, does it work? There are claims that run from 50% all the way to 98% accuracy rates. I think the most important factor for answering this question is the accuracy of the information you are entering into the chart. I am actually 10 weeks pregnant and conceived in the time frame to have a baby girl according to the chart. I won’t know until 18-20 weeks what sex baby I am having and at that point I can give you a definitive: “Yes, the Chinese gender calendar works!” or “I knew this was a load of crap!”
When this topic came up in conversation my sister-in-law astutely said: “If that chart really worked there wouldn’t be such a problem with baby girls in China!” And that is an excellent point–it certainly makes sense that if they had the secret technique for getting the gender baby you want there wouldn’t be so many girls born in China that are unwanted. Or maybe nature always finds away to even out the playing field when people tip the scales too dramatically. Either way, for us superstition-loving-Westerners with a mighty-specific hankering for either a boy or a girl–why NOT give the Chinese gender chart a try?
Here are my tips for using the Chinese Gender Chart accurately!
TIP #1: FIND THE RIGHT CHART!
Using the chart correctly is critical--it's not as straight-forward as it seems!
None of this will mean anything if you’re using the wrong information. This Chinese gender chart has been discussed, copied, interpreted and plastered all over the internet, so you can bet that there have been mistakes posted along the way. In my own research I came across over 4 different charts! No wonder no one believes this works, we don’t know which chart to trust! Unfortunately, there is no real authority you can go to ensure that this is the chart passed down through the generations from ancient China (although the original copy is now in the Institute of Science in Beiling) but I believe I have come pretty close to finding an accurate chart!
My #1 recommended site for accurate Chinese gender predicting is (gong roll please…): www.chinesegenderchart.info. Sure, there are a few grammatical errors and blatant sexist remarks, but that only leads me to believe in its accuracy all the more. After all this is to be expected when it comes to true Chinese wisdom being translated into English (just check out your favorite Chinese take out menu if you don’t believe me). Seriously though, this site has a lot of information on the gender calendar and most importantly it drives home the distinction between our Western age and our Lunar age (based on the Chinese calendar), and this brings us to the second tip…
TIP #2: KNOW YOUR LUNAR AGE (AND LUNAR MONTH OF CONCEPTION)!
No wonder we’ve been getting this wrong! Some post appears on BabyCenter about the chart, we scan down to our “age” and move across to the month and see if we’d have a boy or a girl–WRONG LADIES! Unfortunately, your 7th grade Algebra teacher was right when he said that you will have to use math everyday and the Chinese gender calendar is no exception! The fact is that the chart is based on Chinese months, years and days. So, you will need to figure out your lunar age at the time of conception. Luckily you can forgo the math and use my favorite site’s Lunar Age Calculator for a quick and easy answer to: “What IS my lunar age!?”
Maybe the reason we Westerners don’t like to use the chart correctly is because we are actually a year OLDER under the Chinese lunar calendar, ugh!!! Think you’re still hanging on by a tread to your twenties–wrong you’re actually 30! Think you’re not in the “high risk pregnancy” age column yet–wrong, you’re lucky you don’t have a Chinese OBGYN cause you’re really 36! So there you have it, you are already a year old when you are born under the Chinese lunar calendar–and that may be why you don’t get the right gender when you breeze through with your Western information on the Chinese gender chart!
Also, the months are different. According to what I learned on www.chinesegenderchart.info, the lunar calendar (a.k.a. the Chinese calendar) is actually indicated by the moon’s phases. So, a lunar month is the period required for the moon to complete its full phasic cycle of 29 and a half days. ” This measuring standard makes the lunar year a full 11 days shorter than its solar counterpart. This difference is made up every 19 years by the addition of seven lunar months, which is called leap month.”
So, when I used the site’s handy Lunar Age Calculator my results came up as: “You are 30 years old in the 10th lunar month (Oct. 27 ~ Nov. 24)” I conceived somewhere between November 12th and 14th, well within the 10th Lunar month. Which leads us to the next tip…
TIP #3: CONCEIVE IN THE MIDDLE OF YOUR DESIRED GENDER PERIOD!
The site actually makes this a rule: “Don’t choose the first or last ten days of a gender period for conception.” And as you read on in the site, you’ll see that if a specific gender probability ranges over several lunar months, you want to choose the lunar month in the middle of that period. I guess my timing for conception of a girl was not ideal enough: my gender period for a girl in my 30th lunar year was from the 2nd lunar month to the 10th lunar month. If I really wanted to play it safe for conceiving a girl I would have tried to conceive in the 6th lunar month–but, hey, I like to be risky!! I did make it into the safe range within my lunar month by not conceiving too early or too late–so we’ll see what happens with this baby!
SHOULD YOU TRY THE CHINESE GENDER CHART?
It was a personal decision to use the Chinese gender chart and I wasn’t sure I’d even make it! I personally love and am intrigued by astrological signs, dates and folklore, so to me it was an easy decision. Also, trying this method is absolutely harmless, requires minimal effort and to me was a whole lot easier than the dedication and good timing required for the Shettle’s method of gender selection. I also took the time to see if the chart worked for my first pregnancy. I used the calculator and figured out my lunar age when I conceived Kysen (it was 27) and when I checked the month he was conceived, August, it was a Boy gender period. So, the fact that the chart had worked for me in my first pregnancy (although retroactively speaking) I decided to give it a try with this baby.
I will be able to report back to all you Mommas or Mommas-to-be on the accuracy of the Chinese gender chart with this pregnancy in about 10 weeks, so stay posted!
