Odiere_desk

Ten years ago, I visited a friend's home. Her family had about nine girls, each older than the next by just a year. The family was not well-to-do, and I began to question their decision to have so many children in this challenging Nigerian economy. It was not until last year, when they were finally blessed with a male child, that I understood everything. Gender dictation is one of the many problems some couples face, and this is because childbirth is ultimately a genetic lottery. The Genetic Lottery Childbirth is a genetic lottery where females carry two X chromosomes (XX) . Therefore, every egg a woman produces carries only an X chromosome. The deciding factor, however, lies with the male, who carries both an X and a Y chromosome (XY) . A man's sperm is the only variable in determining biological sex; it either carries an X ( resulting in a girl ) or a Y ( resulting in a boy ). Biologically, a woman is a passive participant in gender determination. If a couple has ...