When we first discover we are pregnant it is usually a very exciting time for expectant parents, grandparents in-waiting and even siblings. The first thing we wish for is that he or she is healthy. This is soon followed by is it a boy or a girl? Some parents want to wait until birth and enjoy the additional surprise when welcoming their new arrival, while many others are filled with excitement at discovering the sex of their baby during pregnancy.
Not too many years ago the only way to get an indication of your baby’s sex was from a scan usually around halfway into the pregnancy. And, even then, it all depended on the angle the baby was lying at on that particular day. Modern day gender scans are much more accurate but they are only available form 16 weeks onwards usually. Over the last few years more sensitive DNA tests have become available simply from a tube of the pregnant mum’s blood which contains fragments of her growing baby’s DNA.
We detail here are some pros and cons of learning your baby’s sex before birth, as well as some important points to consider about the various gender tests themselves.
The Pros
Bonding with your baby
Knowing a baby’s gender can help expectant parents bond with their unborn child. Referring to the baby as “he” or “she” and giving them a name parents can begin to form an emotional connection with your little one.
Planning and preparation
Finding out the baby’s sex can help parents prepare for the little one’s arrival. They can decorate the nursery, choose baby clothes and accessories, and even plan the baby’s name.
Family planning: If parents already have children, knowing the sex of the baby can help them plan for future family dynamics.
The Cons
Reduces the surprise
Finding out the sex of the baby takes away from the surprise factor at the birth. Some parents may prefer to wait until birth to experience the excitement and surprise of discovering sex.
Inaccurate results
While prenatal testing is highly accurate, there is still a small margin of error. This means that there is a chance that the biological sex prediction could be incorrect, which could lead to additional stress and disappointment.
All non-invasive foetal sex screening tests from mother’s blood are only looking at the DNA from the placenta, the organ connecting the baby to the mother. In the vast majority of times this DNA is exactly the same at the baby. However, very rarely there are times where the placenta release cells that are not representative of the baby’s DNA.
Mother’s with a body weight of over 85kgs can have much lower levels of foetal DNA in their blood in the early stages of pregnancy, and this means that a male pregnancy can be missed.
There are other more complicated reasons why a screening test like this can cause inaccurate results. Avoid any home sampling test where the required sample is a fingerprick of blood from mum’s finger. This way of sampling comes with a relatively larger risk of a wrong result due to contamination from tiny tiny levels of male DNA present in the home environment. A report would detail the baby as being male but she is actually a little girl and the male DNA was contamination from the environment.
Pressure from others
Knowing the sex of the baby can sometimes lead to pressure from family or friends to have a specific sort of gender reveal party or result in certain types of gifts, which can create additional stress and expectations.
Ultimately, the choice is yours. Deciding whether or not to find out the biological sex of your baby before birth is a personal choice, and both options have pros and cons. While it can be helpful for bonding, planning, and avoiding disappointment, it can also take away from the surprise factor of the birth and potentially create additional stress and expectations. Most importantly none of the biological sex predictor tests should not be used for the purpose of gender selection. They are all simply for curiosity purposes.
If you are keen to order a test to predict the sex of your developing baby from as early as 6 weeks then click here.
