The Chinese Gender Chart: Does it really work?
Having a baby is such an exciting time filled with a mixture of anticipation and uncertainty.
Expectant parents spend a lot of their time wondering what they will be in for when their new bundle arrives. But many parents-to-be think most about the sex of their future child/ren – some to the point where they will try just about ANYTHING to get the little boy or little girl they’ve always wanted (including trying different foods and different positions!).
But there is one prediction method that has been around for centuries: The Chinese Gender Chart.
Has it stood the test of time for a reason?
What is the Chinese Gender Chart?
Emerging around the 1600s, the Chinese Gender Chart has been used in China to help families predict – and even plan – the sex of their new baby.
The chart uses the mother’s lunar age and date of conception in its calculations. The use of the lunar age (as opposed to the dates on our current Gregorian calendar) is an important traditional custom for the Chinese nation, which considers babies to be one year old at birth (counting the months of pregnancy as the first year of life from 0-1).
The chart is believed to have been created for the imperial family of the Qing dynasty to help them conceive sons, for the usual reasons of carrying on the family name and for working.
How accurate is the Chinese Gender Chart?
As a prediction tool used for hundreds of years, it would be surprising if this chart had no validity whatsoever. However, there is no science behind the method, and even polling a range of mothers seems to give a 50-50 chance of the chart being accurate.
Here are some of the answers from the mums over at Baby Hints and Tips:
- Right for me!! Only one child though. Jemma
- Out of 4 kids, it was right with 2 of them. Bek
- I’ve had 1 right 1 wrong with it Tan
- First right (a girl) and second right (a boy) (I did get a bonus girl, twins, but the following month was a girl on the chart). Katherine
- Correct with my mother – it said both my sister and I were girls and right for me – it said my son was a boy and this pregnancy too. Ultrasound confirms it. Sarah
- Bub #1 wrong, bub #2 wrong. Deb
- Wrong for both my children. Amanda
- Yep, right for me and 5 of my friends. Emma
- Wrong, Wrong, Wrong Kylie
- Right for first, wrong for second … So 50/50 lol Brooke
So why don’t you give it a try and let us know below if it was accurate for you? There are a range of tools and apps available to help calculate your lunar age and date of conception for prediction purposes, including easy to read charts. And if you’re not quite sure what your lunar age is, you can calculate it here.
Thanks to Baby Hints and Tips for this fun article. Check out their website for a range of parenting articles.
