As Princess Kiko prepares to have her third child, the nation is focused on whether the Imperial family will have its first male born in 41 years.
If it's a boy, he would be third in line to inherit the Chrysanthemum Throne, after Crown Prince Naruhito and the child's father, Prince Akihito. A male birth would also effectively end any effort to revise the Imperial House Law, which does not allow a female to reign. Thus all eyes are on the baby's gender.
According to Rikikazu Sugiyama, director of Sugiyama Ladies Clinic in Tokyo and an expert in obstetrics and gynecology, sex selection is a serious matter for many couples, not just royalty.