Boy Or Girl? The Chinese & Mayan Gender Predictors Might Have The Answer

The minute you find out you’re expecting, two great internal — and if you have an outspoken partner, external too — debates begin. The first, of course, is what you’re going to name your little bambino or bambina. The other? Whether or not you want to know the baby’s gender ahead of time. Since you’re here now, we’re guessing the voice in your head screaming “I MUST KNOW” is drowning out the one saying, “Waiting could be fun!”

Don’t worry; you’ll get no judgment out of us. In fact, we’re here to indulge your deep-seated desire to figure out whether the bun in your oven is a boy or girl while you wait for a sonogram or blood test to reveal the sex. To that end, let’s talk about the Chinese gender predictor.

But before we do, why not take a whirl and test out our Chinese gender calculator to see if this ancient predictor is right about your previous or current pregnancy? You can even type in your mom’s info to see if it was right about you! (Psst, you can also check out the Mayan gender predictor lower on this page.)

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How does the Chinese gender predictor work?

It’s actually a lot simpler than you might think. The chart’s abscissa is the month of conception from January to December. The chart’s ordinate is the age of the mom-to-be from 18 to 45. To find your baby’s supposed gender, you trace your conception month from the abscissa and your age from the ordinate until they intersect. There, you’ll see a symbol and/or color indicating the gender. Since these predictors rely on lunar age, you’ll have to add one to your actual age to calculate correctly.

In an automated Chinese gender predictor, variables in the lunar calendar has already been accounted for and will be calculated behind the scenes.

What’s the story behind the Chinese gender predictor?

It’s a tale as old as time, woman gets pregnant, everyone wants to know or has an opinion on the sex of her baby. As is often the case with seemingly mystical things, the Chinese gender predictor is steeped in mystery. One legend suggests the OG gender predicting calendar was discovered in a royal Chinese tomb some 700 years ago. Another alleges that it’s based on I Ching, or the “Book of Changes” — an ancient philosophical taxonomy of the universe. And another tale claims the Qing Dynasty imperial family found it and used it to ensure they had sons, which had more value to the rulers due to their perceived ability to better carry on the family rule. In other words, it’s unclear where exactly the Chinese gender predictor came from.

Does the Chinese gender chart predict gender for multiples?

It might be mysterious, but it isn’t magical — the Chinese gender chart cannot predict the individual genders of twins, triplets, or any other multiples.

Chinese Calendar for Baby Boy or Girl — When to Conceive

By all intents and purposes, if we know the details of how to figure out the baby’s sex based on the mother’s age and the month of conception, then working backward, it is possible to calculate the optimal month to conceive either a boy or a girl. If the chart is to be believed — and that’s a big if for most of us — then technically a 30-year-old mom-to-be looking to conceive a girl would aim for conception in the months of March and May. A 33-year-old mom-to-be would aim for the months of January, April, May, July, September, and December.

How accurate is the Chinese gender predictor?

You’re going to come across fellow moms who swear by it. There are even those on the internet who insist it’s up to 90 percent accurate. But you should know that there is no fast and hard evidence to support this optimism in the chart’s effectiveness. In a 2009 study published by the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, researchers sought to evaluate the accuracy of the Chinese birth calendar in predicting infant gender. Their findings? Accurate prediction of fetal gender based on the mother’s Gregorian calendar age occurred in 50.4 percent of participants. Using the mother’s Chinese lunar age, accurate prediction occurred in 50.2 percent. Basically, the study found that using the Chinese gender predictor wasn’t any better than a coin toss.

The only truly accurate way to predict gender is via a visit to your OB-GYN’s office. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t use the calendar if you want, though. Whether it’s using this Chinese “relic” or wave a crystal over your stomach to see if it swings in a certain direction (yep, we did that too), these sorts of gender predictors are harmless — and fun. If it keeps you rooted in your excitement over impending parenthood, we say go ahead and predict away. Just don’t go picking your nursery colors based on the results.

Mayan Gender Predictor

You’ve tried the Chinese gender predictor. You’ve been logging your temps since someone told you that your body runs hotter if you’re carrying a boy. You’ve even tied a ring to a string and dangled it over your baby belly. But your thirst for certainty hasn’t been quenched — and so you’re turning to the Mayan gender predictor, aka the final frontier.

What is the Mayan gender predictor?

Can you imagine what people did in the age before ultrasounds and advanced fetal medical knowledge? Well, you sort of can, because this is basically it. In order to tell whether a woman was having a boy or girl, they looked to wives’ tales and superstitious tools like this one. And, really, can you blame them? We’d have gone batty with nothing but our own thoughts and speculation rattling around in our brains. The Mayans were advanced beyond the Western world when it came to astronomy and even used the concept of zero as far back as 350 A.C.E., but no amount of knowledge of the stars could replace the ultrasound, so the predictor chart falls in the same category as the Chinese one: A 50/50 chance of being right or wrong.

The Mayan gender predictor is a chart supposedly able to predict the gender of an unborn child. It looks similar to the Chinese baby gender calendar in that its abscissa is the month of conception from January to December and its ordinate is the mother’s age at conception. However, the Mayan gender predictor uses a different methodology to determine its results.

How does a Mayan gender predictor work?

It’s actually super easy. Unlike the Chinese gender chart where you have to see where the mother’s age at the time of conception intersects with the month of conception, the Mayan’s version just requires you to look at the two qualifiers. If they’re both even or both odd, you’ll reportedly give birth to a baby girl. If one is even and the other is odd, get ready for a boy.

To help you visualize how this works, consider this example. Let’s say you are 27 at the time you conceived in the month of May. Congratulations! The ancient Mayans say you’re having a girl (27 is an odd number, and May is the fifth month). If you’re 27 and your month of conception was April, though, maybe spend a little more time picking out baby boy names (27 is an odd number, but April is the fourth month).

Is the Mayan gender predictor accurate?

That’s going to depend largely on who you ask. A doctor is going to tell you no (and trust, they’ll probably be thinking hell no). However, your cousin Ashley and your BFF Shelley might both be convinced beyond a shadow of a doubt that it accurately predicted the gender of their bouncing bundles of joy.

Scientifically speaking, we have to side with your doc here — there’s no hard scientific evidence to suggest that determining your baby’s gender this way is any more accurate than, say, hopping backward three times while saying “Liza Minelli.” Are both fun? You betcha. Will they tell you, in all certainty, if you’re having a boy or a girl? Probably not. You’ll have to head to your OB-GYN for that.

Baby Gender Test

The Mayan and Chinese gender predictors aren’t the only tools you can use to determine your child’s sex. Here are a few tests you can try at home. But remember to keep in mind that these tests aren’t accurate and to get a precise result, you should see your doctor.

• The Baking Soda Gender Test: Mix a cup of baking soda and a cup of your urine together. If it fizzes, it’s a boy! If there’s no reaction, it’s a girl.
• Red Cabbage Gender Test: Chop up some red cabbage and put it in a pot of boiling water. Then, pour the cabbage water into a cup. Mix a cup of your urine and the cabbage water. If the solution is pink or reddish, it’s a boy. If it’s purple, it’s a girl.
• Ask a Little Boy: Supposedly, if a little boy shows an interest in your pregnant belly, you’re having a girl. But if they don’t seem intrigued at all, it’s a boy.
• Check Your Urine: If your urine is a light color, it’s a girl, but if it’s bright, prepare for a little boy!
• Put Salt on Your Breast Before Bed: If it’s damp when you wake up, you’re having a girl.
• Plant Some Corn. This is a super fun gender test to try. Go outside and plant two corn seeds. Do not nourish them with water but with your urine. If the corn is black when it grows, it’s a boy, but you’re having a girl if it’s yellow. And remember, do not eat the corn.

How can I determine my baby’s gender?

Baby gender tests and Mayan gender predictors can be fun, but they aren’t exact. So, if you’re looking for a reliable way to determine the gender of your child, here are a few ways to get an accurate answer.

• An ultrasound
• DNA blood tests
• Amniocentesis
• Chorionic villus sampling (CVS)

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