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• Gender Test Kits Get It Wrong -- Often

  Don't you hate it when you spend upwards of $300 on an unproven at-home genetics testing kit that you ordered online to find out whether you were pregnant with a boy or a girl and then you made lots of decisions based on the results and -- crap! -- the damn thing gave you the wrong results? If I had a nickel everytime that happened, I'd be as rich as the people who sell these things. Now, if you fell for the marketing and spent your future offspring's college starter fund, you're not alone.   Read More... Posted Feb 26 2008, 08:32 AM by Madeline Holler with | with no comments Filed under: gender, gender selection, finding out sex of baby, gender differences, gender preference

• It's a Boy! (Sigh.)

  All genderness being equal, newborn boys bring their mamas down. This was the conclusion of a study done in a French community where it was deemed no cultural preferences for boys or girls existed.  Researchers found nearly a third of the moms who had newborn boys between 4 and 8 weeks old were also suffering post-partum depression and a reduced quality of life. Of the 9 percent who had severe post-partum depression, 75 percent of them had given birth to boys.   Read More... Posted Feb 15 2008, 09:28 AM by Madeline Holler with | with 2 comment(s) Filed under: depression, gender differences, gender preference, post-partum depression, boys and girls, mothers of boys

• Preference for Boys Takes a Surprising Turn

  When I was pregnant a second time, people assumed my husband and I wanted a boy, since we already had a girl. I really didn’t care what the sex of either of my babies was and I’m pretty sure I’m not lying about that. Boy, girl, who cares, as long as they wind up adults with good senses of humor and call their devoted mother most weekends. But I understand there’s a lot of culture built into my (non-) preference and I’m no dummy when it comes to understanding why certain countries’ birth populations skew more heavily male than female. (Sad and unacceptable though it may be.) So it’s great to read that this once staunchly patriarchical country, where ultrasound technology boosted the number of boys born to way more than the number of girls, has shifted significantly.   Read More... Posted Dec 23 2007, 05:30 PM by Madeline Holler with | with no comments Filed under: girls, abortion, boys, gender differences, South Korea, gender preference, ultrasounds

• Americans Would Rather Have Boys

  I'm sure this isn't exactly the kind of thing you end up telling your kids, but apparently Americans have a distinct preference for one gender over another when it comes to babies, and the preference is definitely weighted towards boys. Boys?? Are they freaking kidding?? (Actually, I have two boys. And two girls. Non-preferential: I could ship three of them away for the summer, and they're still available...)  However. 1000 Americans were Gallup-polled (I so wanted that to be about horses when I was little; why isn't it?) recently and asked the question, "Suppose you could only have one child. Would you prefer that it be a boy or a girl?" 37% said: Boy, while only 28% said: Girl. I know, I know, that doesn't even approach 100%, does it? I'm bothered by that too. A full 26%, almost as many as wanted girls, said it doesn't matter, even though that wasn't an option as an answer. And 9% didn't understand the question had no opinion. Which, isn't that the same as "doesn't matter?" Maybe not. I'm not a statistician. I'm not a sociologist either, but what does this say about our society? Apparently we're still into the "carry on the family name" mentality. Boyz drool rule! Me, it never mattered which I had. Hey, with four, it's less important! I'm glad I have some of each, though, simply from the variety, but I think I would have been thrilled with whatever I got. What about you? Boys? Girls? And why?  Posted Jul 07 2007, 01:42 PM by Karen Murphy with | with 15 comment(s) Filed under: kids, babies, girls, boys, gender preference, Gallup polls