There are several myths surrounding the prediction of whether a pregnant woman will be having a boy or a girl. Some are very well known, while others are not so common. Is there any truth to these myths? And apart from the obvious ultrasound after the first trimester, what’s the latest research telling us?

One of the most common myths is that if the belly is hanging low, it is a boy, if it is high or wide in the middle, it is a girl. We can safely confirm that this is a myth and there is no scientific evidence for this old wives’ tale. The shape of the body during preg­nancy has more to do with the weight gained during pregnancy and the muscle tone of the mother, and nothing to do with gender.

Another myth is associated with morning sickness. If the mum-to-be suffers from morn­ing sickness all day, it’s a girl. This time, this myth has some truth to it since studies have found that wo­men with severe morning sickness are more likely to give birth to girls. This is due to higher levels of pregnancy hormone hCG in mothers who are pregnant with girls.

And while this might be the reason why this myth came about, it is not a determining factor of a baby’s sex, and pregnant women carrying boys can also suffer from severe morning sickness.

Finally, a recent study of hundreds of years of family trees suggests that a man’s genes play a main role in his having sons or daughters.

Men inherit a tendency to have more sons or more daughters from their parents, meaning that a man with many brothers is more likely to have sons, while a man with many sisters is more likely to have daughters.

So what is your family tree like?