Unable to give birth to a male child?

[zhang2]

My girlfriend recently told me that her mother had multiple miscarriages in the past, all of which occurred when she was pregnant with a male child. However, she was able to have two daughters. Is it possible for someone to be unable to give birth to a male, or is it just coincidental? Is it likely my girlfriend will experience the same problem? I know that miscarriages can be extremely distressful, and I wouldn't want her to have to experience something like this without knowing first her risks.

[Lemenna]

I don't have a lot of input, but just wanted to say that this is an interesting subject.  I have had 3 boys and 2 m/c where I didn't know the sex and have often wondered if they were girls.  Probably random, but you never know.  I am pregnant with my 4th baby and intelligender says boy.  Not always accurate but probably is in my case!

[BabyGirl97]

right now i am having some signs that show that i may be unable to give birth to a child and I need to know what some more signs are. I already have unregular periods but i need to know more but im afraid to ask a doctor what should I do

[JoyRenee]

My guess would be a genetic counselor. They know more about things of that sort where as an OBGYN knows more about fetal development and pregnancy-related issues. I'm sure you could find them in phonebook (whether online or at home).

[leetlebeanweasle]

I am VERY sorry for your loss! <3

[evthing4reason]

My friend has a little boy with musculer dystrophy, it was inherited, they chose not to find out which parent carried the gene. they got pregnant again, had to find out the sex of baby...it was a boy so it had a 50% chance of also having the disease, so they had an amnio done and it revealed the baby did not have the gene so all is good.
We are waiting to find out if one of us carry the gene that causes Trisomy 13 (suffered a loss @ 19 weeks), if so, it is more prominate in baby girls. (there is only a slight possiblity it was inherited but I won't rest till I know)

[leetlebeanweasle]

My mom has five girls and no boys (she carried 2 boys fill term but they died at birth) she has had A LOT of miscarriages but was never able to have a boy.
Now for your question if it will carry to your friend, who know. My oldest sister has all boys (4) and the boys out number the girls (nephews and nieces) -12 boys / 5 girls-
But I guess you just never know.

Evthing4reason its funny you should mention chromosomes. My mother has a missing chromosome and that's why she had SO many miscarriages and it might be why she couldn't have boys. They aren't totally sure but they do know that's why she had the miscarriages.  

[Nadia77]

i guess its to do with the father of the baby and not the pregnant mother, as X & Y chromosomes which makeup the sex of the baby  comes from the father and not the the mother....

[pinkbelle]

wow... that is really interesting :o) I have never heard of that before

[evthing4reason]

Yes I do believe that this can happen. Some genetic disorders are more prominet in males then females. The genetic disorder may be the cause of miscarrying the male babies and not the females (there is a defect present from the time of conception in the babies DNA ) There are also some that are more prominet in females then in males....the mother or the father can be the carrier of the gentic disorder.
a genetic counsler would be the person to talk to, they can do testing to find out if either parent carries a particular chromosone defect.

[zhang2]

By the way, what kind of doctor would be able to answer my question? Would it be a geneticist, a doctor specializing in pregnancy...? I really don't know the names of these types of doctors and the fields they specialize in, so I've been having a hard time doing a search.

[zhang2]

That's really interesting. Thanks for sharing your stories, and I'm sorry to hear about the people you know who have experienced miscarriages. I was reading about the X and Y chromosome awhile ago, and I read that in general, more miscarriages will happen with boys because the Y chromosome has more defects. Actually, the X chromosome, since it can go through recombination with another X chromosome can get rid of defective genes, but with the Y chromosome they just keep piling on. The article I read that in (I think it was Discover Magazine) said that because of this, male children will become less and less common over thousands of years. But who knows where science will take us by that time.

[beautifullychaotic]

I have heard of this...one of my g/fs mom couldn't have boys. Every time she got pregnant she could only carry for so long and they were boys. But she ended up having 2 girls.  Well now my g/f Manda she can't carry girls. She miscarriages with girls and but has too boys.

[LosingMyMindInGA]

I don't know for sure but what Kstarr said makes sense.  Since the father determines the sex, I suppose it's possible that for some reason the father sperm or one gender or another may not be produced with all the chromosomes it needs or something.

[irrelevance]

I meant female, or male baby*

[irrelevance]

You know, sometimes it is actually the father... So your girlfriend's dad could have just been unable to produce girls, for some reason.. I'm not totally sure, but I read somewhere that it can happen either way.. sometime it is the sperm being provided that just cannot make a female baby that will carry to term.. I don't remember why, something with the chromosomes or something.. Anywho, since this is so rare, I'd doubt your girlfriend would be any more succeptible to it than anyone else.

[g8r grl]

I have heard of that! I dated a guy all through high school who's mom had 7 miscarriages before finally having his little brother. She was told that she could not carry girls...

I've never heard of anyone else having this problem before, so this is interesting! I always thought she was full of it...

[g8r grl]

I have heard of that! I dated a guy all through high school who's mom had 7 miscarriages before finally having his little brother. She was told that she could not carry girls...

I've never heard of anyone else having this problem before, so this is interesting! I always thought she was full of it...

[JoyRenee]

Never heard of it. But then again, there's a LOT I don't know. Best bet is to ask a credible doctor.