Can You Choose Your Baby's Gender?

By Kathy Forcey

When you become pregnant and share the news with your family and friends, they will invariably start guessing the baby's gender. Of course, they are just as excited whether it's a boy or a girl, but it seems that everyone turns into a baby gender predictor and has a trick or two up their sleeves to try on you.

Of course, there are many old wives tales ranging from the shape and size of your belly to how you look at your fingernails to the kinds of food you crave during your pregnancy. While these baby gender predictor tricks can be funny, they're questionable as to accuracy.

Reputed to be highly accurate as a baby gender predictor is the Chinese pregnancy or baby prediction calendar. This ancient document was uncovered in royal burial grounds in China and is till being used by women all over the world to determine their baby's sex as well as a tool in pre-pregnancy gender planning.

Many parents these days want to know their baby's gender before its birth. Using the ultrasound machine, this is a fairly routine procedure that is non-invasive and is capable of providing accurate information as a baby gender predictor in the mid-second trimester of pregnancy.

Performing an ultrasound is nearly painless and takes only a short time. Depending on the stage of gestation, the most annoying part is probably going to be having to drink what feels like bladder busting amounts of water prior to the examination. Even with the high rate of accuracy for sonograms when it comes to baby gender prediction, there are factors which may make it hard to read. For example, whether the baby is facing out and the size or age of the fetus can affect the usefulness of the sonogram to predict sex.

The truth of the matter is that laboratory examination of the amniotic fluid is the only current means of accurately determining a baby's sex prior to birth. Unfortunately, amniocentesis is an invasive procedure which carries a risk of harm to the fetus and should never be undertaken for the sole purpose as a baby gender predictor.

With the availability of a reasonably accurate baby gender predictor such as ultrasound, new parents-to-be can elect to learn their baby's gender before it is born. In fact, many parents these days choose to do so. With the anticipation of a new baby, comes dramatic lifestyle changes. Something as simple as knowing what to shop for can go a long way towards reducing the stress factor for new parents. - 30443

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