Baby Gender Predictor – Can You Really Predict A Baby’s Sex ?
January 17, 2010 by Olivia Campbell-Price
Filed under Baby
It seems that when you become pregnant, the whole world becomes a baby gender predictor. Everyone, it seems, has an opinion or a favorite trick to guess whether you’re having a baby boy or girl. Some people even lay odds on your baby’s sex and win jackpots!
Baby gender predictor strategies can be quite entertaining or annoying. Many are just old wives tales that are fairly harmless. For example, some people swear by the shape of the belly to tell if it’s a boy or girl you’re carrying, others will tell you that the food cravings you have will be the deciding factor.
One baby gender predictor that has enjoyed a reputation for up to 95% accuracy is the Chinese Baby Prediction calendar. Discovered in a royal tomb in China, this calendar uses the mother’s lunar age and the baby’s month of conception to determine the odds of gender.
It used to be extremely difficult to predict a baby’s gender before birth, but with the advent of the ultrasound machine, this has become a reality for many expectant parents. The best time to perform the sonogram is during the middle of the second trimester. It is a non-invasive procedure and can be quite accurate if performed under the right conditions.
The ultrasound procedure itself is fairly straightforward. The only discomfort for most women may be the need to drink lots of water before the sonogram. Other than that, a cool gel is spread across the abdomen and a scanner is used to “see” inside the womb. Although the ultrasound can be quite accurate, factors such as the direction the baby is facing or its size or fetal age may affect the outcome of the scan and make it less functional as a baby gender predictor.
Medical testing is the only way at this time to accurately determine a baby’s sex before the birth event. However, medical testing procedures such as amniocentesis or chorionic villus sampling carry a risk of harm to a fetus and because of this high risk, using them as a baby gender predictor is not a viable option.
Finding out the gender of your baby before its birth may take away some of the anticipation, but for many expectant parents, it can be a real time and money saver if they can plan ahead for their baby’s needs. These days, using a baby gender predictor such as the sonogram is commonplace, so feel free to ask your doctor if you want to know your baby’s sex early on.

