What are the best days in your menstrual cycle for conceiving a boy?

According to the Whelan Method, a technique named for author Elizabeth Whelan, the best time during a woman’s cycle to conceive a boy is four to six days prior to ovulation, notes Parenting.com. Whelan based her technique on Harvard School of Public Health studies on conception charts.

By contrast, the Shettles method, named for Dr. Landrum Shettles at Columbia University, suggests that to conceive a boy, sex should occur as close as possible to ovulation, since male sperm do not survive as long as female sperm, reports Parenting.com. In addition, couples should have sex in the rear-entry position, which ensures the sperm’s deposit as close to the cervix as possible.