Parenting

How soon can you find out the sex of your baby?


It’s best to wait until 16 weeks (Picture: Ella Byworth for Metro.co.uk)

There are many exciting milestones when it comes to pregnancy.

Getting through the anxiety of the first trimester, hearing your baby’s heartbeat for the first time, seeing your little one on an ultrasound, feeling your baby move and, of course, finding out the sex of your baby.

How soon can you actually find out the sex of your baby?

Typically people find out the sex of their baby at the 20-week scan.

Seeing the baby’s sex is not always possible, because it depends on the position your baby is in.

The 20-week scan isn’t just for checking the baby’s sex. It’s a scan for any anomalies, for the purpose of checking the health of your baby.

Finding out the sex of the baby is just an added bonus, because it’s generally clear after 16 weeks what you’re having but the sonographer is under no obligation to tell you as they are there to check the wellbeing of the baby and may not have time to check the sex.

It is also unlikely you will find out the sex with an NHS scan at 16 weeks, as generally, the only scans you are given in the first and second trimester is the 12-week dating scan, where telling the sex is not possible, and the 20 week anomaly scan.

However, gender scans are generally available privately from 16 weeks.

Prices vary, but often you will find deals on sites such as Groupon, and you can get standard deals for as little as £60 for a half an hour session.

Some private scanning places have deals which often include 4D peeks, teddy bears and photos, and even a little video of your bub moving around.

The heart rate theory is a myth (Picture: Ella Byworth for Metro.co.uk)

And, if you want to make the sex a surprise, you can always ask the sonographer to keep it private, and write it down in an envelope for you so that you can have a reveal later on, with both private and NHS scans.

Though most places will not perform a gender scan on you until 16 weeks, sometimes you can see what you are having sooner.

If the baby is in the correct position – with their legs open with a clear view from underneath – it may be obvious to the sonographer as early as 14 weeks, as by then the differentiation of male and female sex characteristics are complete.

However, to tell the sex accurately, it is best to wait until between 16 to 20 weeks. This is because the genitals are clearer, the baby is bigger and therefore they are easier to see, and you’re less likely to get an inaccurate answer.

Can you tell your baby’s sex by heartbeat?

Lots of people believe you can tell your baby’s sex based on their heartbeat but this is a myth.

Due to an old wives’ tale, it’s believed that if the heartbeat is over 140 bpm, you’re having a baby girl, and below 140 bpm, you’re having a boy.

However, in a study published by Fetal Diagnosis and Therapy, researchers studied 966 sonograms from women who were all under 14 weeks pregnant.

They repeated the study when they were in the second trimester between weeks 18 and 24, when the sex can be determined by ultrasound.

By this point, only 477 women still met their study criteria, and 244 were having girls, and 233 were having boys.

You can sometimes tell by the nub theory (Picture: Ella Byworth for Metro.co.uk)

And no – the heart rate didn’t help predict the gender.

The average heart rate for boys in the first trimester was 154.9 bpm, while for baby girls it was 151.7 bpm.

So, the myth was busted.

What is the nub theory?

The nub theory is based on the fact that all embryos have a small bud or swelling called the genital nub, which is fixed at conception.

If you’re having a boy, testosterone starts being produced at seven weeks and prompts the bud to grow into a penis and scrotum. In a girl, the genital nub will become the clitoris and labia.

You can see the genital nub on a scan image – but during the first trimester, the sex is really hard to see, and it can often be identified incorrectly.

The nub development is a gradual process, and it’s hard to see which way the nub is developing so early.

If a baby has a nub that’s at an angle greater than 30 degrees, he’s most likely a boy, while if the baby has a nub that’s more horizontal to the baby’s body, parallel with the spine, she’s probably a girl.

But again, everything during the first trimester is so tiny that it’s super difficult to see, and when your baby is bouncing around at all angles, making an assumption on an early scan is pretty difficult.

Of course, when finding out the sex of your baby, you want to be absolutely sure of it before you tell everyone. Nobody wants to get their huge gender reveal wrong.

If you’re impatient, it can be difficult, especially when you just want to know whether you have a little boy or girl inside you – but after finding out, you have the rest of your pregnancy to bond and get to know them – so it’s best to get it right, instead of focusing on myths and predictions.

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