Let’s talk Gender Reveal scans. This is a divisive decision. Whether to find out in advance or wait for the surprise. We asked our guest blogger and expectant mum, Louise, about the reasons for her decision about whether to find out or not. We also surveyed other mums and expectant mums to find out what they thought.
The Aster Baby Scan Clinic kindly offered their contribution to our blog about Gender Reveal scans. They said that in their experience, the top reasons people choose to find out are as follows:
- It’s their first (or even 2nd) pregnancy and they are just excited to find out
- They are planning a gender reveal party so need to know
- They are new partners where the couples have had kids from previous relationships
- If they have already had two boys or two girls they often want to know what the third is
Let’s find out what our survey said about reasons to find out or wait until your baby arrives.
Are you going to wait to find out the gender of your baby?
Having spoken to Louise a few weeks ago, she was really keen to know. However, her husband, James, really wanted to wait for the surprise. With the scan due tomorrow, what did you decide?
“My husband and I made the joint decision to wait and find out what we are having on the Day! “
Our survey responses were as follows
I found out before baby arrived: 50%
I waited for the surprise: 35%
Currently pregnant and want to know: 0%
Currently pregnant and don’t want to know: 15%
Reasons to find out at the scan
Reviewing the survey responses, one of the biggest reasons to find out at a gender reveal scan was simply being impatient and hating surprises.
On a more practical level, it was about getting everything organised and feeling prepared. One mum-to-be said that she “wanted to be emotionally and psychologically prepared as well as organised with baby items.” Another overwhelming reason was from those who already had older siblings. It was more about preparing them or knowing which baby items they needed to bring down from the loft.
Reasons to wait
“It’s one of the most natural surprises you could ever get. I thought not knowing would make me more eager to push.” this response made me smile. I wonder if it did make her more eager to push?
Most people sited that as an adult, there are few genuine surprises in life and said they wanted to enjoy that unique moment when their baby arrived. One mum added that she “wanted a surprise and didn’t want to have preconceived thoughts about them and what they’d be like. ”
Do dreams predict what you are having?
Recently, Louise excitedly said she had her first dream about her baby which led to a discussion about whether these dreams are accurate in predicting the gender of your baby. Another friend said she dreamt she was having a baby girl and she did.
Our survey responses were as follows
Did you ever dream about the gender of your baby?
Yes: 63%
No: 36%
Out of that 63% who did, only 30% were accurate. So perhaps, not a scientific method 🙂
Old wives tales – do they work?
There are many old wives tales that claim to tell you the gender of your baby.
Some of the methods attempted by our respondents included:
“A Gold ring on the hair above the belly. Husband has done this 40+ times on friends and has ‘100 accuracy.’ A circle for a girl then straight and pendulum for a boy.”
The position of the bump has been another predictor with girls being a higher/wider bump and boys being lower and out front.
Cravings were another discussion point with salty/savoury snacks indicating a boy and sweet cravings indicating a girl. The majority of answers indicated that these methods did accurately predict the gender of their baby with only a few saying ‘definitely not.’
Final comments and advice from our survey…
“To be fair it’s a 50/50 chance you’re going to be right ? it worked for us but finding out doesn’t suit some people and that is just fine! “
“It really annoys me when people find out for themselves the gender of their baby but then keep it a secret from everyone else…I don’t care!!!!? “
“Keep the first a surprise but find out for the second ??”
“I didn’t actually feel especially strongly about finding out both times but because my husband really, really wanted to know we found out. I think if he’d have felt really strongly about waiting, then we would have waited. The second time made even more sense to find out as we could start to personalise him to our daughter. “
“Finding out the sex before allows you to prepare and get excited for the arrival of a little boy or girl early-on! In my opinion, you still get a surprise, you just get it 20 weeks early “
“In some ways, I am glad we found out before being born because we were convinced it was a boy and I’m glad I hadn’t got all the way to labour and out popped a girl (we had a girl.) I hope I wouldn’t have been disappointed. I have a friend who was gutted about the sex she had “
Thank you so much to every that took the time to contribute to this post. Please leave any comments below 🙂
Thanks to: The Aster Baby Scan Clinic, Louise, Taryn, Allie, Stephanie, Sharon, Amy, Millie, Rachel and Sophie as well as our anonymous contributors.
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