In ages past, parents were always surprised to discover their baby’s gender. Many myths and old wives’ tales grew around the predicting of a baby’s gender. For example, the way that a woman carried her baby was thought to predict gender. Even the degree to which a woman experienced morning sickness has been associated with predicting a baby’s gender. Fortunately, in the modern world, there are more reliable ways to predict gender. Using ultrasound, your baby’s gender can be predicted with a relatively high degree of accuracy.
There are a few factors that go into determining whether an ultrasound will be reliable at predicting your baby’s gender. First among these factors is the age of the baby. The younger the baby, the less likely it is that the ultrasound technician will be able to predict your baby’s gender. Another important factor is the type of ultrasound equipment used. While the technology is generally the same, there are a variety of ultrasound machines available, and newer designs tend to present clearer pictures and, therefore, be more reliable at predicting a baby’s gender.
Another important part of the reliability of an ultrasound at predicting your baby’s gender is the ultrasound technician. Some ultrasound technicians tend to predict that the baby will be a girl, whether or not they actually see the presence of the labia. This is a relatively common mistake that tends to produce unreliable results. The fact of the matter is that many ultrasound technicians, if they do not see a penis on the ultrasound, will predict that the baby is going to be a girl. However, this does tend to lead to errors. This sort of error is becoming less common, but if your ultrasound technician is predicting your baby’s gender to be female, you should ask if it is for this reason.
The final factor in the reliability of ultrasound to predict your baby’s gender is the positioning and cooperation of the baby. There are just some angles at which it is not possible to predict your baby’s gender using an ultrasound. In these instances, expectant parents will typically have to wait until their next ultrasound to find out.
