Timing of birth of each 
child is seen from Saptāṁśa (D7) as well as their nature, abilities, fortune and any trouble they may have.
Each sign is divided into seven equal parts of 4° 17’ 8.57″ each. Parāśara states that for –
- Odds Signs – Lords of the seven signs reckoned from the sign itself are the rulers of the saptāṁśa
- Even Signs – Lords of the seven signs from the 7th from the sign (opposite sign) are the rulers of the saptāṁśa
While this may seem daunting at first, with time you will be able to do this well. Let us look into the construction of the saptāṁśa chakra, which is a parivṛtti chakra i.e. like the Parāśara Navāṁśa they follow the requirement of continuity. The first saptāṁśa of Aries maps into Aries and the last, 7th saptāṁśa maps to Libra. The first saptāṁśa of Taurus, the next sign maps to Scorpio, and so on. We notice that there is a continuity from Libra to Scorpio and there is no jumping around.
Timing of birth of each child is seen from Saptāṁśa (D7) as is their nature, abilities, fortune and any trouble they may have.
The first pregnancy in male (husband) chart is read from the placement of Lord of 5th house from Saptāṁśa (D7) Lagna and in female (wife) chart the placement of the 9th lord. The 10th house in a female chart is the māraka sign for the child (and all children) and if the lord of the child is in the 10th bhāva, or influenced by its lord the pregnancy will fail, unless the protection of Venus is also present, which can show a premature delivery.
Just as the first child is seen from the fifth house counted zodiacally or reverse depending on oddity, the subsequent pregnancies are seen from every third house (Maṇḍūka gati). Thus, if an odd sign ascends in the saptāṁśa, the individual pregnancies are seen in the 5th (1st pregnancy), 7th (2nd pregnancy), 9th (3rd pregnancy), 11th (4th pregnancy) etc. If an even sign ascends in the saptāṁśa, the individual pregnancies are seen in the 9th house (1st pregnancy), 7th (2nd pregnancy), 5th (3rd pregnancy), 3rd (4th pregnancy) and so on.
The sex of the child is seen from the lord of the sign ruling the house of pregnancy.
- If the lord is exalted or conjoins male planets (Sun, Rāhu, Jupiter, Mars) the issue is male.
- If the lord is debilitated or conjoins female planets (Moon, Ketu, Venus) the issue is female.
- Saturn and Mercury are eunuch planets, but the tradition says they indicate female (Saturn) and male (Mercury) child respectively. They are strongly influenced by other planets and change.
- If the lord of the house ruling pregnancy is neither exalted nor debilitated nor conjoins other planets, then the sex of the child is seen from the nature of the sign occupied by it.
- All odd signs excepting Aquarius and Gemini are male signs while all even signs except Cancer and Pisces are female birth signs.
Maximum number of children is known by determining the number of planets aspecting the lagna of D-7 chart. when seeing the house (5, 7, 9… for odd lagna) and (9, 7, 5….for even lagna) if we encounter nodes who put a stop at the count. Only Jupiter and Mercury have the power to cross the blockage of the nodes as they bring the power of the sky-father and earth-mother respectively.
Rāhu will normally cause miscarriage unless:
- There is a parivartana yoga Rāhu is Chara Putra kāraka
- Jupiter or Mercury is placed there. Jupiter in particular is naisargika putra-kāraka and also rules the exaltation sign of Venus
- Venus is present to protect the baby
Venus is the single most important planet for creating babies. It is the significator (Kalatra-kāraka) and shows the strength of the sperm and ova to cause the pregnancy. A lot of information about the past life of the child is divulged from the positions of Venus in the conception chart. It is controller of rebirth of the soul as it owns the natural seventh house (rebirth) of the zodiac. In the worst case showing danger to pregnancy, it can cause premature delivery and then gives the child a rare strong spirit to fight for survival.
There are certain combinations that prohibit the birth of children. These are very difficult to break and simple remedies cannot overcome them.
- As regards children the planets Venus, Mercury and Saturn in trines to Saptāṁśa Lagna negate the possibility of children.
- Also Sun in 12th and/or Moon in 8th house in D-7 chart are Maraṇa Kāraka positions.
- If Saturn or Mercury are the cause then a sincere prayer to Lord Shiva in the form of Ardha-Nārīśvara (half-male, half-female) will start the remedial process.
There are many rules and principles. The slides presented below will give a good foundation.
