The suspense is torture; will it be a boy or a girl? Very
important question and it can become the central focus of a woman’s first part
of pregnancy. One thing is for sure, it helps to know the sex of the baby in
order to shop for baby clothes and pick out the color of the nursery. But on a
more serious note, a baby’s sex is determined at the time of conception. While on my journey for information on this subject I came across an interesting website that gives a step-by-step explanation on how a babies sex is established, you can access it here. When
the baby is conceived, a chromosome from the sperm cell, either X or Y, fuses
with the X chromosome in the egg cell, determining whether the baby will be
female or male. Two X’s means the baby will be a girl and XY means it will be a
boy the following video gives a short explanation on this.
Even though gender is determined at conception, the fetus doesn’t develop its external sexual organs until the fourth month of pregnancy. At seven weeks after conception you can see that the fetus appears to be sexually indifferent, looking neither male nor female. Over the next five weeks, the fetus begins producing hormones that cause its sex organs to grow into either male or female organs. This process is called sexual differentiation. If the fetus is going to be a male, it will produce hormones called androgens, which will cause his sexual organs to form. On the other hand, a female fetus would not produce androgens; she would produce estrogens. I have also included a video here in reference to this.
San Juanita,
ReplyDeleteThis is usually a crucial moment for new parents who are waiting for the gender of the incoming child! Sexual differentiation is a important process for the fetus to be able to produce and build those sex organs to be able to know what the sex of the baby may be. An important stage in child development and body functioning. Usually the preference for the sex of the baby tends to go differently between parents but whatever the outcome may be its always a newand exciting experience! Thank you for the post.
San Juanita,
ReplyDeleteHopefully this comment will appear only ONCE XP. Seriously though, I have to admit watching your first video made me laugh. I know a few people who SWEAR they conceived a boy/girl because of the rythmn or style or timing etc. that they used. I even have someone in my own family who told everyone she and her husband had tried for a boy by having her stand on her head. On another note, I agree that sometimes parents have a preference for gender. My own mother told me once she wanted (foolishly she now claims) a boy, however she is so very glad she had a girl instead. Your video gave me some insight into the forming of gender within a fetus and your link to the site that shows how the genders differentiate at which time was very informative. Well done!