Are the odds always 50-50?

[Uuaww]

So I went to a family wedding the other day that was predominantly my Mom's side of the family. I know that supposedly the chances of having a boy or girl are 50-50 but is that always true and my family is just really really unlucky? Case and point, I have 6 sisters, 3 cousins (all female) and 6 2nd cousins (all female). My Mom has 2 sisters, 12 cousins (11 female, 1 male). Her Mom has 8 siblings (7 female, 1 male). I was told it was the 1 per generation curse.

It just seems odd to me that this has happened, could it be genetic? Also what is with large female family members deciding to always calling the one boy "Little..." My "uncle" is Little Ati, sort for Attila (Hungarian)... he is 6'4" 300lbs. And they call me Little Ted (6'6" 230lbs). NO we are not the youngest in any way. Oh and the females in our families? top out at 5'7".

I just felt the need to vent... family annoyances of females... on a predominantly female boards...

 

[SCHBR'smom]

I have 5 kids, only 1 boy. My DH is the only son. His dad, the only son of 4 kids. His dad, yep, only son. They say it is a family curse, also.

 

[rgf207]

So I went to a family wedding the other day that was predominantly my Mom's side of the family. I know that supposedly the chances of having a boy or girl are 50-50 but is that always true and my family is just really really unlucky? Case and point, I have 6 sisters, 3 cousins (all female) and 6 2nd cousins (all female). My Mom has 2 sisters, 12 cousins (11 female, 1 male). Her Mom has 8 siblings (7 female, 1 male). I was told it was the 1 per generation curse.

It just seems odd to me that this has happened, could it be genetic? Also what is with large female family members deciding to always calling the one boy "Little..." My "uncle" is Little Ati, sort for Attila (Hungarian)... he is 6'4" 300lbs. And they call me Little Ted (6'6" 230lbs). NO we are not the youngest in any way. Oh and the females in our families? top out at 5'7".

I just felt the need to vent... family annoyances of females... on a predominantly female boards...

The probability is 50% no matter how you cut it. There are only 2 options.

 

[tonilea]

Maybe, your family is just really LUCKY! lol I couldn't resist.

Actually, I thing the odds of conception are about 50/50, but the odds of delivering a live baby slightly favor females.

 

[Uuaww]

The best advice my dad ever gave me was when I was 6 years old... he would repeat it to me as needed, (in regards to arguing with my sisters, cousins, family members without a Y chromosome in general): "Son, you need to pick your battles, it doesn't matter if you are right or wrong, because either way you are gonna lose."

 

[bookgirl]

Women are XX and Men are XY you get one alleal from each parent.

It is the sperm that decides what you will have.

Parent's genetic material splits into two , mom's egg will always carry an X, if dad's sperm carries a X you get a girl if dads sperm is a Y you get a boy. So while yes it is a 50 50 chance, there are two factors that also contribute. In any male "donation" does he have more Y's or X's, and are his X swimmers faster/hardier than his Y swimmers.

Someone is genetics will have to explain more than that because I don't know the exact why's or wherefores, but I did have a friend who's husband was tested, his "boys" where sluggish and there were more "girls" in the sample who were also more lively. So if by some miracle they did get pregnant chances were they would have a girl. Although I don't know how they knew since I thought you couldn't tell until the embryo split or were more mature but that's what she told me.

So the chances of it being a boy or girl are 50 50 but the odds of having more of a likely hood of one over the other are determined by more science then I took in college.

 

[laurie31]

Yep, the odds are 50-50 with each birth.

There are two posible outcomes with each (single) birth. The outcomes of previous births do not affect what's going to happen next. It's like flipping a coin. There are only two possibilities. If you flip a coin 100 times, on average you will get heads 50 times. But you might get heads 10-20 times in a row. It doesn't invalidate that there was a 50% chance of getting tails on each flip. It's just chance.

People don't have enough children to make those laws of probability play out - lol. (not even the Duggars! lol)

ETA - this doesn't account for situations like bookgirl described - if Dad has heathier X (or Y)sperm for whatever reason, then girls (or boys) will be more likely. I've also read that the acidity of the...um....environment...can contribute to to success rate of either the X or Y sperm. Timing of the attempt in relation to when ovulation occurs can also favor one gender over the other.

 

[KimR]

Actually, I've heard that some women are predisposed to having one gender over the other. I think it has something to do with their ph balance being more conducive to X or Y sperm. I think I am definitely made to have girls.

 

[Piecey]

When I got pregnant and heard the heartbeat for the first time, my OB asked me if I was hoping for a certain sex. I told her I knew it would be a boy. I was only 10wks and she asked me why I said that.

I told her there hadn't been a female in my DH's family in 5 generations. She laughed and said "Those are some strong genes"

Fast forward 8 weeks, ultrasound showed a boy. She remembered me telling her that throughout my pregnancy and the day she delivered him she brought it up again.

I think some families are just like that.

 

[MrsKreamer]

The probability is 50% no matter how you cut it. There are only 2 options.

While it is true that there are only two options, that doesn't always make the probability 50/50. There have been studies done that show that some men produce more of the X "chromosomal matter" and others produce more Y or that one is stronger/faster/more healthy than the other(making that one more likely to reach the finish line), hence why some couples have more boys or more girls.

 

[Imzadi]

Actually, I've heard that some women are predisposed to having one gender over the other. I think it has something to do with their ph balance being more conducive to X or Y sperm.

It's actually NOT 50-50. There are actually TWO factors that determine sex, from what I heard/read. Yes, one is the ph balance in women. Male sperm actually are more fragile that female sperm. It's amazing those little swimmers make it at all to reach the egg before they get destroyed by the acidity in a "normal" woman's vajajay, let alone one more acidic.

Secondly, sex is actually determined by the males. If they aren't maufacturing enough male swimmers in the first place, that's their fault (so to speak.)

In China, which is still very traditional about wanting a male heir, and with the "One Child Only" law they have there, when the woman doesn't give birth to a boy baby, they blame her. I guess no one informed the men, they are the ones who determine the sex of the babies.

Henry VIII kept blaming his wives for not being able to give him a male heir, but Henry was actually the one shooting blanks. And the one son he did have, died very sickly, right around childbirth. Just not strong enough to begin with.

 

[ZephyrHawk]

Actually, there is a very slight edge towards males. I'm not sure if it even amounts to 51/49, but it's there. The reason is because Y chromosomes are significantly smaller than X chromosomes and, as such, their carriers swim faster. No, this is not a joke. There's a slight edge to males at birth, however, it gets evening out by about age 21 becuase males die in their teens slightly more often than females as a result of their testosterone fuled lifestyles.

This has been your behavioral ecology moment of the day.

 

[PollyannaMom]

...Timing of the attempt in relation to when ovulation occurs can also favor one gender over the other.

I've heard this, too. - The story was that "male" sperm are faster, so if mom has already ovulated, they are more likely to reach the egg first, and you are more likely to get a boy. But "female" sperm live longer, so if she ovulates after they've arrived, there will be more of those left, and you are more likely to get a girl.

 

[Ephany]

I learned in one of my classes last year that the average sperm count in 'normal' males is really low now when compared to samples from decades ago. There was something like a 50-65% decrease in the number of viable swimmers in samples taken from men today when compared to previous generations. I'll see if I can track down the journal article, it was pretty interesting.

I'm sure genetics play a part as well an environmental factors.

 

[HunnyPots]

So, having a predominantly female family makes you unlucky? How do the female family members feel about that?