In almost 100% of cases, pregnancy is a crucial event for future parents. After the first joy subsides, mom and dad begin to wonder who will be born to them. This is especially true for those who are expecting a baby of a certain gender. However, you can understand who lives in your mother’s tummy only with the help of an ultrasound. Are you wondering how long it takes to find out the gender of the baby? We will consider this issue in detail in the article.
Photo: Palmer E. Guide to ultrasound diagnostics. - M.: Medicine, WHO/Geneva, 2000. - 334 p.
Is the gender of the baby visible on an ultrasound?
Probably everyone has seen in films or even in person an ultrasound examination procedure (ultrasound) of a pregnant woman.
The mystery of the development of a new life and everyone's attention around this process has turned an initially ordinary procedure into a ritual that has been inevitably observed ever since ultrasound machines became indispensable assistants for parents trying to understand at what week of pregnancy it is possible to find out the sex of the child.
Initially, ultrasound diagnostics was intended to identify problems inside the body without surgery, and its appearance marked a huge breakthrough in medicine, as well as in obstetrics. According to ultrasound data, not only an obstetrician, but also an ordinary person can see a child in the womb.
It doesn’t matter what week the baby’s sex is determined by ultrasound - the device will show the baby in all its glory. First of all, doctors determine that the fetus is developing normally, and growth occurs in accordance with the term. Only after these necessary observations will the obstetrician begin to determine the sex.
The procedure itself is absolutely painless and brings extremely pleasant sensations and impressions - the expectant mother is shown on the screen what her baby looks like and whether everything is fine with him.
The process of determining gender using an ultrasound machine:
- First, if you are in your first trimester of pregnancy, you will most likely be offered a transvaginal ultrasound. It differs from the traditional one in that the sensor is applied to the uterus from the inside and it becomes much easier to examine the fetus.
- If the early stages of pregnancy have already passed, you will undergo a standard ultrasound examination for pregnant women - even if you asked everyone around about what week you can determine the sex of the baby at an ultrasound session, and hope to see something stunning for yourself, the process will not disappoint you . You don’t even need to undergo any preparation, no enemas or refusal to eat before the procedure.
- You will be given a well-known element of ultrasound examination - a transparent sticky gel, which is smeared in moderate quantities on the pregnant woman's stomach. This is done for a reason and not even out of convenience, so that the sensors slide better. The gel performs the very important function of eliminating air between the surface of the sensor and the skin, ensuring maximum contact and the best signal conductivity.
- Now you can find out the gender of the baby, and in what week it should be visible, if you did not specify such important information in advance. In general, the fetus is always visible, but the timing directly determines whether you will see the baby fully or half developed.
It is not very critical to make a mistake and not know at what week of pregnancy you can determine the sex of the child. If the abdomen has already formed, then the fetus can definitely be identified during the study - primary sexual characteristics develop very early and are obviously different.
The only problem for parents may be the position of the baby in the uterus. The baby lies in the womb in a natural position for him - the fetal position, that is, the legs are tucked in and often you have to wait until the baby moves. This will definitely happen, you just have to wait a little. At these moments you will have something to do, because through the sensors you can see the face and all the movements of the future newborn in quite detail.
Types of ultrasound during pregnancy
Frequent mistakes made by diagnosticians and their causes
According to studies, ultrasound readings are incorrect in about one in 20 cases. In addition to the lack of qualifications of the doctor who made the diagnosis or clarified the sex of the child, there are real failures in the ultrasound data transmission system.
A short pregnancy period is another cause of errors, but not the most common. In fact, the inaccuracies of doctors are due to the excessive pressure of a young parent who simply does not have patience. During pregnancy, the great desire to at least approximately determine the sex of the unborn baby forces diagnosticians to make personal assumptions in order to reassure the woman. They say this, of course, at random. In the early stages, it will not be possible to accurately determine the sex of the child, even with ultra-modern equipment.
In the second trimester, it is easier to correctly determine the sex. In the middle of the “pregnant journey,” the baby becomes larger and less mobile. True, if he is positioned in such a way that his genitals are not facing the camera, then it will be very difficult to persuade him to show up.
A large flow of clients for screening forces the doctor on duty to be less attentive to the requests of the expectant mother. For a sonologist, the main task is to detect pathologies, everything else is secondary. Naturally, paid clinics cannot afford standard indifference to their clients, but in ordinary hospitals, indeed, a tense atmosphere often reigns.
A boy is seen, a girl is born, and vice versa
A fairly large percentage of babies who are developing well in utero do not allow themselves to be seen fully, postponing the answer to the “most important question” at the time of birth.
Sometimes the genitals can be covered by the umbilical cord, which is mistaken for the penis. The opposite situations are also common, for example, when the child’s position is such that the penis is squeezed between the legs or in some other way.
We were waiting for one - it turned out to be two
In the early stages of pregnancy, erroneous conclusions are sometimes given regarding the number of embryos. Experts may be mistaken, but it is simply impossible not to notice the second child throughout the entire gestation period. Even the most inexperienced mother understands that there is more than one fetus inside, especially when brothers or sisters begin to actively move. Heartbeat indicators are often confused with the mother's pulse, hence suspicions of twins arise.
The differences in the results of the two ultrasounds are misleading: what if they saw their son first, but this time he hid behind his sister? Previously, cases of “hide and seek” of a second child happened and, indeed, a great reward after childbirth for parents was meeting two newborns instead of one.
How accurate is ultrasound?
There is a possibility of error, but this is a rare case. And the device itself is never to blame for this - the doctor may have made an oversight here, accidentally mistaking a hand or any other part of the baby’s body for the desired organ. A big role here is played by the week in which parents determine the gender of the child - of course, the longer the period, the better developed the fetus and the less likely it is to make a mistake.
If you have consulted with your personal physician, asking him at what week you can determine the sex of the child in your case personally, and his recommendations coincide with your capabilities, then feel free to go for the study. The likelihood of an error is negligible, and you can also sign up for a repeat procedure if the images turn out to be unclear and the doctor performing the procedure expresses his doubts. If the result is unclear, the clinic will most likely ask you to recheck the results. Don’t despair if your pictures are difficult to see - check with what week other parents find out the sex of the child, find out more about the situation.
There are certain standards for how many weeks the baby’s sex can be seen on an ultrasound, so the mother arrives at the appropriate time in a great mood, confident and full of expectations to see the baby.
Women in the study are advised to relax and enjoy the process for a reason - the influence of the mother’s stress level on the fetus has been officially proven. Here ancient instincts come into play, and the baby feels his mother’s anxiety even in the womb.
Simple tips to help you not be nervous during an ultrasound examination:
- think about pleasant things - even if you don’t like the sticky and cool gel on your skin, try not to dwell on the discomfort;
- follow the obstetrician’s instructions and you will see more and get to know the baby better;
- listen to the sounds that ultrasound also conveys perfectly;
- if the baby on the screen does not do anything unusual, think about any pleasant moment, do not let the situation upset you;
- breathe evenly and calmly.
If all these rules are followed, good equipment and an experienced specialist behind it will accurately determine the sex of the baby by showing you the evidence. Nowadays, ultrasound materials are copied onto a disk or any other convenient digital medium, always handing the material over to parents as a souvenir.
It also happens that parents don’t care at how many weeks they can find out the sex of the child - they want to maintain this intrigue right up to the moment of birth. In this case, ultrasound still remains an extremely accurate study, the purpose of the procedure simply shifts - doctors simply check whether the baby is developing well.
This is what a girl looks like on an ultrasound
Dependence of fetal size on weeks of pregnancy
Over the long period of time that modern obstetrics and gynecology have existed, medicine has developed clear frameworks for development and growth, which a baby must normally comply with. Among these parameters are the size of the fetus, clearly defined limbs, mobility, the amount of amniotic fluid and the absence of intrauterine developmental pathologies, of which a great many have already been discovered.
The same recommendations often answer the question of what week you can find out the sex of the baby using an ultrasound. It all depends on the level of development of the baby’s organs and systems. Although they are approximately the same for all babies, observation throughout pregnancy is not in vain recommended for all mothers - the more sessions are done, the more confidently doctors will be able to tell you that the child is absolutely healthy. This is precisely the most important thing, and how many weeks you can determine the sex of a child by ultrasound is a secondary matter.
Each week of pregnancy is unique, because these periods differ radically from each other, remaining equally important in the overall development process. In seven days, the baby in the womb manages to “step over” an entire stage of its formation into an independent organism, separate from its mother.
The reproductive system is one of the most complex mechanisms of the human body, which is why its foundations are laid early. It is at 12 weeks that you can find out the sex of the baby by ultrasound for the first time. It is possible earlier, but then there is a high probability of an inaccurate result.
The ratio of weeks of pregnancy to the chance of accurately determining the sex of the baby:
- 12th week. Is it possible to find out the gender of a baby at 12 weeks with an ultrasound? Yes, you can - exactly the third month of pregnancy is often associated among parents with the first (and correct) guesses about whether it is possible to find out the gender of the child at 12 weeks of pregnancy. It is believed that this particular period ends the period of uncertainty and allows the young family to finally understand at how many weeks it is possible to find out the sex of the child by ultrasound accurately and without errors in their case. At the age of three months, young mothers are impatiently rushing to find out the sex of their baby, and for good reason - the primary sexual characteristics have already been formed enough to be seen on the screen. The difficulty is that the small fruit practically does not unfold and it will take a lot of luck to see everything.
- 13th week. If you think about what week you can find out the gender of the baby by ultrasound accurately and with 100% probability, then the 12th and 13th weeks are unlikely to be on the list. Is it possible to determine the sex of a baby using an ultrasound at 13 weeks? It is possible, but the result will not differ much from the studies at week 12. Diagnosis during these two weeks is most often carried out based on the health of the fetus, rather than the curiosity of the parents.
- 14th week. If you scour the forums to see what week most parents find out their baby's gender, you'll probably notice that by the 14th week, new mothers begin to run out of patience. The decision about how many weeks of pregnancy you can find out the sex of the baby belongs only to you and a little to your doctor, but natural curiosity may take over - this is natural. After 14 weeks of pregnancy, the size of the fetus and the sex of the baby become a little more clearly visible on the screen, but few obstetricians can give a guarantee greater than 80%.
- 15th week. If the clinic has good equipment, when asked about the possibility of finding out the gender of a child at 15 weeks of pregnancy, you will be answered positively, but will be warned that we are talking about the same 80%.
- 16th week. Is it possible to find out the gender of a fetus at 16 weeks? Yes, and in good clinics the chance of finding out the truth can increase by five percent, but the average results are the same - the baby’s body is occupied with other organ systems.
- 18th week onwards. And finally, is it possible to find out the sex of a child at 18 weeks of pregnancy? Here the answer will be a clearer and more confident “yes”. Most ultrasound machines are designed to recognize gender starting from the 18th week.
As you can see, determining the sex of a baby is not an easy task. It requires professionalism, the patience of parents and the gentleness of doctors, who will have to explain obvious things many times to inexperienced mothers, including often explanations on the topic of whether it is possible to find out the gender of the unborn child at the 11th week of pregnancy, or even earlier.
Ultrasound of the fetus at 23 weeks of pregnancy: boy and girl
Determining sex during multiple pregnancy
When carrying two or more babies, their gender is determined using ultrasound, as when pregnant with one child - the procedure does not differ in any way.
Identical children have the same chromosome set and are always the same sex. Fraternal babies can be of different sexes.
When determining the gender of twins (or several fetuses), difficulties may arise due to the position of the babies - they may cover their reproductive organs, as well as each other.
We should not forget that there is always the possibility of a specialist’s error, so the results of an ultrasound, especially when carrying twins, are recommended to be regarded as preliminary.
The gender of children in multiple pregnancies is determined by ultrasound from 18–20 weeks of gestation
Is it possible to influence the gender of the unborn baby?
The answer to this question is clear: no. Sex is determined genetically, at the cellular level of the egg and sperm. All the necessary “gene information” is laid down much earlier than the conception process. If in the case of the father, active sperm are released within a few days before conception, then with the mother’s body everything is more interesting.
The female body does not produce male Y chromosomes, which means that any egg contains a set of female X chromosomes. To put it simply, without the Y chromosome it is impossible to have a boy. All these sets are a genetic lottery, which depends on which set of chromosomes the sperm will bring into the egg. It is impossible to influence this process under natural conditions; only in laboratories, with great difficulty, can the course of events be changed artificially.
