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At What Week Can You Tell the Gender of Your Baby

Boy or girl? Advances in prenatal testing mean that parents-to-exist tin can find out their baby'south sex earlier in pregnancy, though some still choose to exist surprised after delivery.

"Am I having a boy or a girl?" It's one of the well-nigh common questions from parents-to-be. These days, you can learn your baby's sex at several stages throughout the pregnancy, ranging from the first trimester to delivery day. Here's what expectant parents need to know.

An image of a adult female and her doctor.

Finding Out the Baby's Sex at Birth

This might be the oldest of old-schoolhouse methods: If you wait long enough, you lot'll discover the sex of your baby at nativity. Prospective parents who conceive through sexual intercourse tin avoid learning the sex activity of their child during routine prenatal medical interventions.

But while some parents-to-be prefer the surprise of waiting until delivery, many others would like to know their baby'southward sexual activity before. They have several dissimilar options, outlined beneath.

  • RELATED: What Happens When Y'all Choose "Gender Neutral" On Your Child's Birth Certificate?

Non-Invasive Prenatal Testing (NIPT)

Non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT) screens for genetic or chromosomal abnormalities in the fetus, such as Down's syndrome. It ordinarily happens after x weeks of pregnancy. The American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology (ACOG) now recommends NIPT for all pregnancies, regardless of gamble or age.

NIPT analyzes blood drawn from the pregnant person, and information technology doesn't pose whatever gamble to the fetus. The blood sample is analyzed for fragments of fetal Deoxyribonucleic acid, chosen prison cell-free DNA (cfDNA) since it's outside of fetal cells. By analyzing the cfDNA, the NIPT screens for some chromosomal disorders, and it can see how many copies of the X and Y chromosome the fetus has, thus establishing the sex of the infant.

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Chorionic Villus Sampling (CVS) or Amniocentesis

Recommended for some significant people, amniocentesis and chorionic villus sampling (CVS) screen for genetic abnormalities in a pregnancy, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Equally a byproduct of performing the tests, parents-to-be can learn the sex of their baby in a more reliable mode.

With amniocentesis, a needle is inserted through the abdomen into the uterus to sample amniotic fluid. It carries a small adventure of miscarriage, but it's generally very condom. The process is unremarkably done betwixt 15 and 20 weeks' gestation.

On the other mitt, CVS involves taking a sample of tissue from the placenta for screening, and it also looks at fetal chromosomes. CVS is unremarkably done between 10 and 12 weeks of pregnancy, the CDC says.

Babe Ultrasound

Parents-to-be can larn their infant's sexual activity during routine ultrasounds—but proceed in listen that it's not the primary medical value of these tests. For case, the anatomy browse, which normally takes place betwixt xviii and 22 weeks, confirms the proper growth of the fetus. The technician takes a multifariousness of measurements (including crown-to-rump length), estimates fetal weight, examines the placenta, and checks internal organs and sexual activity organs, according to Johns Hopkins Medicine.

Pregnant people can learn the sexual activity of the baby as function of the anatomy browse, if they wish. Often an ultrasound technician or medico will ask if the patient would like to larn the sex of the infant, and they may pass up if they prefer to exist surprised.

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Note that information technology might be hard to determine your infant's sexual practice during their beefcake scan, especially if they're in a position that hides their genitalia. In this instance, a 2d ultrasound might be scheduled for the sexual activity reveal.

Finding Out the Baby'south Sexual practice with IVF

If a couple conceives with in vitro fertilization (IVF)—a fertility treatment that involves combining the egg and sperm in a petri dish, then inserting the resulting embryo directly into the mother's uterus—the infant's sex might be known from the outset. You tin can thank preimplantation genetic diagnosis, in which the full chromosomes of an embryo are evaluated, usually to choose the healthiest embryo for the IVF procedure. At that bespeak, prospective parents can sometimes choose the sex of the embryo they desire to implant. This is called "gender selection," and not every clinic will offering it.  Besides go on in listen that there won't e'er be viable embryos of both sexes to choose from.

  • RELATED: Gender Selection and IVF: What You Demand to Know

Think That Sex Isn't Gender

While parents-to-be have several opportunities to learn their baby's sex activity, it'due south worth remembering the limits of this data. Babies grow up to be kids who can tell their parents about themselves, and the label they're assigned at birth isn't always right.

Gender identity, according to the Man Rights Campaign, refers to a person'south internal sense of identity, which is distinct from anatomy. Some kids are non-binary and others are transgender, significant their gender identity doesn't match the sex they were assigned at birth. Some states and locations now allow parents to change the gender on their child's nascency certificate to "X," which allows the child to claim a gender identity when they're ready.

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And fifty-fifty if the infant is cis-gender (significant their assigned sex and gender identity are the same), this can't tell you anything almost their personality, hopes, or talents. These characteristics will take to exist learned the hard way: over time, with love and intendance.

At What Week Can You Tell the Gender of Your Baby

Source: https://www.parents.com/pregnancy/my-baby/gender-prediction/qa-how-soon-can-you-find-out-babys-sex/