It may seem like this would be something seen in patriarchal societies where the men get the inheritance, but a Gallup poll has shown that the majority of the respondents said that they would prefer to have a baby boy. Of the 1020 Americans that were randomly polled; 40% would prefer a baby boy, 28 wanted a baby girl and the rest of those polled said that they had no preference.
As far as the break down with potential mothers; 31% of the women preferred a boy while 32% preferred. Men showed a more significant difference in their preference: 49% of the men wanted a boy, while 22% percent of men would prefer a daughter.
There was also a difference as people began to get older. The older the individual the less likely they are to have a preference. It could be that the older the person the more likely that they have already had children and see that it does not matter if it is a boy or girl.
In the end most parents holding their children are just delighted to have a happy and healthy child.
Source: LiveScience