Part 10

And so we come to my conclusion. With an organism entirely self-contained and independent, as I have endeavoured to show the female anatomy to be, the only reasonable inference is that the male is in no way a determining factor in the sex of the ovum fertilised by him. On woman and woman alone does the sex of the unborn child depend.

FOR A BOY

“Laws wise as nature, and as fixed as Fate.”—POPE.

Just as the male ovum proceeds from the larger ovary, so does the development of the male fœtus take place in the larger and more expansive side of the uterus. The male ovary, being more perfectly developed, and more self-contained than the left, throws out its ovum on the third day of the menstrual period, never before. The earliest boy-pregnancy ever recorded started on the third day of the period. It was the notable case reported by Dr. Guérin, of Anne of Austria, wife of Louis XIII of France, who thus conceived her eldest son. Again we are told by Jourdain that Henri II consulted the eminent Fernel as to a means of rendering his Queen Catherine de Medici, fruitful. Fernel advised intercourse “immediately after the period,” and his advice proved successful. After years of disappointment, the Queen gave birth to a son.

My researches convince me, however, that only in rare cases does male conception occur in the early menstrual flow, i.e., from the third day to the sixth day of the period. The greater majority of normal male conceptions occur between the eighth and fifteenth day, counting from the very beginning of the period. The twelfth day is certainly the fruitful day, par excellence, for the conception of male offspring, experience having afforded conclusive proof that the ovum proceeding from the right ovary is then at the height of its receptivity. It must, however, be borne in mind that a boy can only be conceived every alternate month, one month being fruitful and one fruitless. This is further dealt with in a subsequent chapter. In my formula I have always given the fifth day after cessation of the period as the most likely date, allowing a full seven days for the duration of the menstrual period. The reason for allowing seven days to elapse before risking pregnancy is, that, although the actual flow may only last three or four days, the uterus remains in a perturbed state for a whole week, and the ensuing muscular flabbiness is not propitious to really healthy offspring. It is interesting to refer to the Law of the Talmud, which goes to prove that the fourteenth day was largely utilized by the Jews. The direction in Leviticus is “But if she be cleansed of her issue, then shall she number to herself seven days, and after that she shall be clean, and on the eighth day”....

I have known many cases where male-conception occurred on the fifteenth, sixteenth and seventeenth days respectively from the beginning of the period. One happened for certain on the eighteenth day, though this is exceptional. Such belatedness may easily cause a meeting of two ova, as it were, in the so-called “blank week”; one a male ovum and the other a female, which may possibly have been thrown into the tube as early as ten days before menstruation. If these two happen to be fertilised on the same day, or within two days of each other, the result will probably be the conception of mixed twins.

Generally, however, the disappointed ovum, if unfertilised, perishes on or about the fifteenth day, for its life, unlike that of the spermatozoon, is only a matter of days. With the ovum thus dead the uterus is unable, for the next six or eight weeks, to conceive a male child, since, before the next male ovum is due, the fruitless month must elapse.

If, on the other hand, fertilisation takes place, the uterus closes up entirely, jealously guarding the precious ovum that has now become a male embryo. From the first month of conception the embryo is alive, and its sex fully determined. It is an amazing fact that many people still believe that sex can be determined any time after pregnancy until the child quickens. Again and again I have been asked how to change the sex of an unborn infant that was well on its way. People seem to think that a wave of the magic wand, a special diet, or some form of treatment can transform a full-blown girl-embryo into a boy fœtus, or vice versa!

It is equally childish to imagine that the embryo does not enjoy vitality from the first moment of its existence. The virtue which proceeds from the fertilisation of this germ has such prodigious power that the whole being of the woman, in mind and body, undergoes a subtle change. Many women are affected in various ways almost immediately. Some are the victims of nausea and vomiting which last either for the first two or three months, or for the whole time of gestation, and are most distressing and difficult to alleviate. Others suffer acutely from heartburn, cramp, undue salivation, and other disabilities.

As regards the movements of a fœtus, they may be detected by a doctor long before the mother discerns them. Possibly she will not feel them until the fifth month or sixth month of pregnancy, especially if she is of a passive and lymphatic nature. The quickening occurs earlier with boys than with girls. Hippocrates maintained that as a rule the male is felt at three months and the female at four, on account of the greater strength of the male. Dr. Hamilton knew of quickening in the eleventh week. Denman says “quickening may happen from the tenth to the twenty-fifth week, but it occurs most commonly about the sixteenth.” I have found in the majority of cases that with boy-pregnancies it occurs at sixteen weeks and with girl-pregnancies at seventeen or eighteen. “Quickening” is caused by a change in the position of the uterus, which, on account of its increased weight, suddenly rises above the pelvis, thus enabling the movements of the fœtus to be discerned for the first time.

During the first three months or so the uterus seems to be flatter with a male pregnancy than with a female. This condition prevails up to the time of quickening, when the very opposite occurs. The explanation of this is simple. When the male ovum leaves the ovary and, after the menstrual flow, is fertilised, it finds little or no preparation for its nutriment in the decidua, from which it is to derive its support. Hence its inception is characterised by considerably less spontaneous vitality and development. The female ovum, on the other hand, starts its embryo existence with all the unwasted accumulations of a uterus which has not discharged its contents for three weeks or more. But, as the pregnancy advances, the male embryo makes up for lost time, and thrives apace on the more generous supply of nutrition provided by the larger male ovary.

With advanced male pregnancies, too, there is generally a distinct protuberance on the right side in front. The weight of the fœtus is thrown towards the right, and a characteristic of male-pregnancy is that it allows of a freer walk and less awkward bearing. A lady pregnant with a boy, describes her condition as follows:

I am very large, but it is all in front. I am so nervous lest it should be another girl, but the movements are certainly on the right side.

Another lady who subsequently gave birth to a son, wrote:

I feel all the violent kicking on the right side and I have cramps down my right thigh.

The male sex of a child often tends to cause an extension of the term of gestation beyond its natural limits. This is mainly due in my opinion to the larger size and greater elasticity of the right horn of the uterus, and also to the superior powers of nutriment of the larger ovary. Although quickening occurs earlier in male-pregnancy than female, the movements of the female embryo are generally quicker and less powerful.

We may certainly conclude that Nature intended women to produce more boys than girls, and that, with this end in view:

1. She provided the girl-child with more male ova in her right organ than female ova in her left.

2. She rendered easier the fertilisation of the right side ovary by placing the right cornu of the uterus, the tube and the ovary, in the more attainable position in the pelvis.

3. She made the right ovary and tube larger than the left and provided more seminal fluid for them to carry.

These facilities for the increase of males are the more necessary and desirable when we consider:

1. The greater tendency to abortion with male-pregnancies.

2. The great care which must be exercised with first children, if they be boys.

3. The lack of proper means for rearing male prematures born under seven months.

4. The extra attention that is always required by boy-children in the way of feeding, warmth, and such necessary treatment as circumcision.

When we have overcome these disabilities, we shall have made a very definite step forward. But even so we shall not be able to obtain a reasonable proportion of males and females until proper use is made of the simple law of determination, with which I have dealt, however imperfectly, in this chapter.

Now, for the benefit of the uninitiated and for those unacquainted with medical terms, I intend to make a brief and simple summary of the points outlined, so that any woman who desires to have male issue can make personal use of them.

Union should occur from the third day to the tenth day after cessation of period. The fifth day after the period or in other words, the twelfth day from its commencement, is the most certain date for conception.