Preferences for Sex of Firstborn Child among Primiparous Turkish Women

Abstract

Sex of the baby is an important fantasy object for pregnant women. The objective of this study was to assess the preferences of women for their infants' sex. In this study, 99 primiparous women were included, and accordance of their desires with the newborns' actual sex and feelings about it were examined. All of the mothers were newly delivered and had healthy newborns (53 girls, 46 boys). Before birth, 49 (49.5%) mothers prefered to have a daughter, 25 (25.3%) mothers prefered to have a son, and 25 (25.3%) mothers reported no preferences about the infant's sex, a statistically significant preference for girls. There was no significant difference in the reported emotions of women according to sex preference and its concordance with infants' actual sex after delivery. It is considered that the timing of the interview might be a strong predictor for this result.