The DNA is strong. 

I am one of three daughters. 

I had three daughters of my own. 

My girls have 4 cousins, and they are all girls. 

My oldest daughter is having a daughter of her own.

Our long line of female dominance continues its reign.

As the new trend says, we know ball. Raising girls and having sisters is literally all we know. 

Sure, a boy would be so fun, and if we are ever blessed with a blue bundle of joy, we will be over the moon, but until then, we will delight in the bows, cute outfits, and all things pink.

When we found out that Alex and Drew were expecting, most of the family just assumed it would be a boy because, at some point, the odds have to shift. Right?

Andy and I held firm that it would be a girl. A boy just felt inconceivable to us, but the sisters and husbands were sure there was a little boy brewing. Even Alex felt like it would be a boy. I asked her if she had an inkling, and she said it was hard to tap into her intuition because she just felt like it surely couldn’t be a girl, considering there were already so many of us. Even when she read the results and saw she was having a girl, she struggled to believe what she was reading. 

What can I say? Somewhere along the line, our family was blessed with only having girls.  Or perhaps it’s more than that.

For years, people have insinuated that we have strong genetics because we all sound alike, look alike, and act similarly.  Many have asked if any of us are twins over the years, and honestly, while we always consider it a compliment, we haven’t given it much thought. I mean, obviously, siblings often look alike and have similar mannerisms.  

A few years back, a friend of my daughter’s approached G at a wedding and asked if she was my sister. She told them she indeed, which elicited the response, “I knew it.  The DNA is strong.”

We got such a kick out of this that it has become our battle cry.  Whenever someone makes a comment that alludes to our shared genetics, we respond, “The DNA is strong.”

As soon as we found out that we would be adding another girl to our long line of female empowerment, G shouted, “The DNA is strong!”  

Of course, people guffawed at the idea that the addition of another female to our family had anything to do with our DNA, because everyone knows that it’s the sperm that actually decides if the little egg will be fertilized with an X or Y chromosome. True, but then I remembered reading an article about the eggs choosing…

I told G about it, and she did what she does so well and began researching to find the article in question. Turns out there is quite a lot of research out there that suggests it’s the egg that actually chooses which little sperm she is going to let crack the shell. 

Interesting. 

According to the article from Live Science and written by Starre Vartan, “the choice of which sperm fertilizes the egg is entirely up to the egg…Further studies have even suggested that the egg attracts and repels certain sperm even before they get to the egg.”

Essentially, our eggs are simply sitting here with their X chromosomes, waiting for the “right” little sperm to come along. Perhaps our eggs are wearing little shirts with the logo, “If you’re carrying a Y, goodbye?” Perhaps the sperm carrying a Y chromosome lacks the secret code word.

I’m not saying our eggs will never choose a Y chromosome; I’m just saying it sounds a lot like survival of the fittest, and the Y chromosome apparently hasn’t passed the test yet. Yes, it’s still dependent on which chromosome the sperm is carrying, but it’s not just about the fastest little swimmer; it’s about which sperm the egg wants.  It makes a lot of sense.

Let’s sort the facts, shall we?

We have a long line of women in our family, uninterrupted by a male offspring.

Eggs carry DNA.

Our DNA is strong (as suggested by many people, making it almost a scientific fact)

Women are choosy (some have suggested our family of women is particularly choosy)

Our eggs might be overly picky.

Our eggs are only choosing sperm with X chromosomes 

I’m not saying we are over here building a dynasty of strong women in our family, but I’m not NOT saying that. You have the information, you decide.

Cheers to Alex and Drew on their announcement. We can’t wait for your little girl to be part of this amazing dynasty of women.