Problems conceiving one sex?

[PsychoGoddess]

First off, I hope that this is in the right place and that it's not something that will upset anyone. I'm sure with some people it may be a sensitive issue, but I'm genuinely curious. The basic story is as follows:

My future SIL has had several miscarriages (before I knew her), and while it's unclear whether this was the basis for the doctor's assessment, she was told that she'd never have girls. She has three wonderful boys now, and I don't think it bothers her too much. Has anyone else heard of this though? I've tried to look things up on the internet with little success, and I'm curious as to the cause of such a condition.:detective:

I would feel like I was prying too deep with the woman (whom I get along with and whose emotional support I may rely on in the future.), especially since this diagnosis was before I met her brother. It may be a sensitive subject for her (and others with the problem), but if anyone here would have some passing experience with it (a relative, someone on this or another board, etc) iId appreciate any information. :) Should I just not bother looking into it? I'd never broach the topic, but if it *were* to be brought up in front of me (highly unlikely), I don't wish to sound totally ignorant either.

And that was a wishy washy :ecomcity: post. Sorry

[MumsieMel]

Hi,

Sorry i dont have any idea about it. Never heard of such a thing.

But good luck finding some info.
:D

[Worm'sMum]

I have heard of this, although i too don't know much about it - sorry! I had an ex whose grandma (his mum's mother) couldn't have boys for some medical reason. She miscarried twice with boys and then went on the have 3 healthy girls. She then fell pregnant again with a boy and they both(mother and unborn son) didn't make it. That was at least 50 years ago, so I had thought it was just something that happened then and not these days- it obviously still does so it may be worth looking into.

Im glad that your SIL has healthy children and is happy, I think if we are blessed enough to be able to have children, either sex isn't much of an issue.:)

Good luck finding more info!

[pegasus]

My sister had 5 (or maybe 6) miscarriages between having her daughter and her son. They had concluded that she could only carry a girl to term (had some genetic tests and goodness knows what tests).

She was so convinced that she could only have a girl (as was everyone else around her) that when her son came out - you could have knocked her down with a feather (actually she was pretty buggered by that point!). So yes, there are some theories and some tests (it was something about the mix between her hubby and her) but in this case they were wrong!

[chellegoth]

It is probably quite involved and a bit of pot luck then. Something like the chemical make up of the males sperm and females ova, hormones of both male and female etc.

[mum2four]

DH's Aunty has this problem, they have their firstbirn (a girl) after many MC's then a few more MC's and 3 boys. She has been told by the dr's that she can't carry girls and apparently all thos MC's were female. The one she did have she had to have some sort of injections or something to keep the pgcy going. Sorry I don't know much more, we don't really talk to them that much and this is as much as we know

[jacks mum]

Again not sure of the ins and outs of it but my SIL has a son and has since had 3-4 mc which they think were girls. She is now due in June with a girl after all this time. Her mum had 3 mc with girls before my SIL was born (total bed rest with pregnacny though) then went on to easily carry and have 2 boys.
Not sure why but it happens

[CrazyBeautiful]

This is interesting, as I remember my MIL saying once that more people lost boys more so than girls. (She was a Midwife once upon a time). I have also been told by colleagues that premature girl babies seem to have a greater survival rate than boys. Whether this is true or not, as I obviously haven't done the research myself.

[xkwzit]

It may be a genetic problem, one that one sex can be a carrier, but not affected, but the other sex are affected and therefore don't survive. I don't know too much about this, but I do know that there are some diseases out there that affect boys but not girls or vice versa. I've also heard it said that boys can be more vulnerable to genetic disorders because they are XY. Girls are XX, so there may still be one "good" copy of the X chromosome with all the genetic data that they need, but boys don't have that full replication and so any problem on the Y chromosome can be a bigger problem.

I'm not an expert, some of this stuff might not be correct, but I have heard from *somewhere* YKWIM ;)

[kimmariee]

My Auntie had a boy when she was young and adopted him out they then found out he had muscular distrophy( i think i spelt it wrong) or huntingtons disease i can't remember which and he died when he was 21 from it. As she is the carrier of this gene and if she concieves a boy they will end up with it so she won't have any more boys and only have girls. She now has two lovely girls. Don't know if that helps in any way but just thought i would share.

[Funkychicken]

My SIL's mum and and her sister both had two girls but both also had two miscarriages each and they were all boys. They were told this theory also. My sister in law was convinced she would inherit this and would have a girl. She got a boy.;)

[jmacg]

My cousin's daughter has Rett's disease and no boys are born with this ( or might be very few) as they miscarry but girls go full time. Makes sense if that were the case with other diseases.

Sorry can't be more help.