Chinese Pregnancy Calendar
The Chinese pregnancy calendar is an ancient method that claims to predict your baby's sex based on your lunar age and month of conception. Discover this age-old tradition and have fun exploring the full chart.
Full Chinese Calendar Chart
| Age | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
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What is the Chinese pregnancy calendar?
The Chinese pregnancy calendar, also known as the Chinese gender prediction chart, is a traditional tool said to have over 700 years of history. According to legend, this chart was discovered in a royal tomb near Beijing and is based on the Chinese lunar calendar.
The principle is simple: by cross-referencing the mother's lunar age at the time of conception with the lunar month of conception, the chart indicates whether the baby will be a girl or a boy. This calendar is still very popular in China and many Asian countries, and it has become a widespread source of entertainment among expectant parents around the world.
How to use the Chinese calendar?
To use the Chinese pregnancy calendar, you need to know two pieces of information:
- Your lunar age at the time of conception. The Chinese lunar age is calculated differently from your Western age. In China, a baby is already 1 year old at birth. So you need to add 1 year to your actual age. Additionally, if you were born before the Chinese New Year of your birth year (which usually falls between late January and mid-February), you must add another year.
- The lunar month of conception. Ideally, you would convert the Gregorian month to a Chinese lunar month. In practice, most simplified versions use the Gregorian calendar month.
For example, if you are 28 years old and conceived in March, your lunar age is probably 29. By looking at the intersection of row 29 and the March column in the chart, you will get the prediction.
Is the Chinese calendar accurate?
In a word: no. The Chinese pregnancy calendar has no scientific basis. Several academic studies have analyzed the reliability of this chart:
- A study published in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology showed an accuracy rate of only 50%, equivalent to a simple coin toss.
- The baby's sex is determined by the chromosome (X or Y) of the sperm at the moment of fertilization. Neither the mother's age nor the month of conception influences this biological process.
The Chinese calendar is therefore a form of entertainment, a fun tradition to share with family or friends. To reliably find out the sex of your baby, only ultrasound (from around 12-14 weeks of pregnancy) and non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT, from 10 weeks) are medically validated methods.