Would it be wrong to pray for a girl?

[DakiniArtist]

My husband wants a daughter so badly. He mentioned it on our first date! He’s had a name picked out for years (after his beloved late grandmother). He has two sons already. He is getting older and has some health problems or we would have more kids. He feels he only has “maybe one more” in him.

Would it be wrong of me to pray, or ask the intercession of saints, for a baby girl? I feel weird about that, but then I kept running across the Scripture, “Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.”

With all the tragedies and suffering in the world, I feel humiliated and selfish to pray for this. But I adore my husband and since we fell in love I’ve longed to give him a daughter.

 

[Michelle_Arnold]

It is one thing to have a normal, healthy desire. It is another thing to brood over that desire to such an extent that you would actually be disappointed if the desire was not granted. While I don’t normally discourage anyone’s prayers, I cannot recommend praying for something that would encourage your husband in his apparent obsession for a daughter and could cause anger with God in both of you if you do not get a girl (especially if you get a son who might grow up thinking “I should have been a girl”).

Just pray for a healthy baby. You can mention to God your husband’s desire for a girl—yes, God knows, but this is a form of intercession for your husband—and ask for both of you to be granted the grace to joyfully welcome the child you receive, no matter the child’s sex.