Will gender selection be the new isle in the supermarket, geared towards people who need to have a baby of certain sex?

In today's society, where we have a choice in everything major in our lives, from where we are going to give birth to our babies, to pre planning our own funeral. Is it right that we can determine the sex of a baby before it's even conceived?

Apparently so... Gone are the days when a fourth little girl would cause disappointment to the father. Gone are the days of fingers crossed and hope for a boy.

It's all out there for us if we care to look. Gender selection products and methods are easily available, so we can have a baby to fit into our preplanned lifestyles.

Baby sex selection methods can range from the 'very expensive' to 'the very cheap'. Microsort & PGD weigh in at the top end of the scale, and have approximately 80% chance of giving you what you want. But could you imagine paying thousands of pounds for a bouncing baby boy, and being in the 20% that end up with a little girl.

That's right, around twenty percent of people will spend lots of their hard earned money, and still not get what they wanted!

So onto those cheaper gender selection methods, and even a couple of free tips!

Whether you are purely desperate enough to try anything, or just trying it for the fun of the whole experience - with a little bit of "how great would it be if it really worked!" Here a few theories (based on the Shettles method) to think about.

• Alter your diet. This is supposed to work by altering the PH balance in your body, making cervical mucus more hospitable to either male or female sperm (whichever is your choice)

• Douching, making either alkaline or acidic douches to alter your cervical mucus, again favouring either the male or the female sperm.

• Timing of sex (no not with a stopwatch!) But the timing of when you have sex. A few days before ovulation will favour a girl. A few hours before ovulation to a few hours after, a boy.

• Sexual positions, the theory that certain positions can control the depth of penetration and exactly where the sperm is deposited. Because male sperm are more aggressive and swim faster than female sperm, which are more alike to ' Slow and steady wins the race'. It can make a difference to the gender outcome, with how close those sperm end up to the cervix.

• And for the Dad to be, a nice cup of coffee before intercourse will give those male sperm an adrenalin fix!

And the free tips? - For a girl

Remember these are just for fun

• Make love on even numbered days.

• Make love when it's a full moon!

• Initiate the lovemaking (dominant women are more likely to have a baby girl)

For a boy

• Make love on the odd numbered days.

• Let the man climax first (Is there an option!)

• Let the man initiate the lovemaking and you are more likely to conceive a boy.

Article by Julie Gardner, Mother of 2 gorgeous but very demanding children!