This is some hidden fact about xml serializers in .Net.

 There is an option is to use a special pattern to create a Boolean field recognized by the XmlSerializer, and to apply the XmlIgnoreAttribute to the field. The pattern is created in the form of propertyNameSpecified. For example, if there is a field named "MyFirstName" you would also create a field named "MyFirstNameSpecified" that instructs the XmlSerializer whether to generate the XML element named "MyFirstName". This is shown in the following example.

public class OptionalOrder
{
    // This field should not be serialized 
    // if it is uninitialized.
    public string FirstOrder;

    // Use the XmlIgnoreAttribute to ignore the 
    // special field named "FirstOrderSpecified".
    [System.Xml.Serialization.XmlIgnoreAttribute]
    public bool FirstOrderSpecified;
}