When is the best time to find out the gender of the baby? Belly definition. When does the reproductive system begin to form in the fetus?

22.07.2019

Women who have learned about their new position are looking forward to the time when they can find out the sex of the child during pregnancy.
Some - out of idle curiosity, for other families this is a matter of principle. You can't have the same boys or girls all the time. For some people, it is undesirable to have a child where genetic problems are passed only through the paternal or maternal line. And it is important for someone to give birth to an heir. You can find out what gender the child will be on an ultrasound. But there are other methods for determining what kind of replenishment to expect in the family - a daughter or a son.

How the gender of the unborn baby is formed in utero

Delay. Toxicosis. Pharmacy pregnancy test. It's done! Testing showed 2 long-awaited strips, and immediately a lot of questions in my head, including "when it will be possible to find out the sex of the child." A logical question that will torment a married couple with sleepless nights.

In nature, there are many clues as to what gender the firstborn will be, according to which our ancestors accurately determined who the pregnant woman is carrying. For example, if boys were born first along the lines of the father and mother of both spouses, it is stupid to wait for a girl, even if you really want the first “assistant”. Having given birth to the first "hooligan boy", you can plan the birth of a long-awaited daughter.

Of course, everyone is waiting for an ultrasound, which will help to find out the sex of the baby in early pregnancy. But doctors have a different task - diagnosing the condition of the fetus, confirming its usefulness, without defects and genetic abnormalities. On examination, if the embryo is well located in the uterus, the doctor will tell you who the woman is expecting - a boy or a girl.

Surely everyone has heard and read on the forums about such cases. Doctors until the last moment claimed that there would be a boy, and a girl was born with enlarged labia. So at what gestational age is the sex of the child determined with certainty so as not to be mistaken? Only after the boy's testicles descend into the scrotum will the ultrasound show this.

Important: The genital identity of the fetus begins to form from the 6th week, in the form of a small tubercle. Until the 9th week, there are no differences, due to the microscopic size and the initial stage of the formation of the genital organs. Only after 11 weeks, this tubercle will begin to transform into a penis, and for girls - a clitoris. This is information on the question of the first signs of pregnancy, how to find out the sex of the child. The testicles will form later, they come out of the tummy of the embryo at the 7th month of pregnancy.

The sex of the child is laid at conception, depending on the chromosome set of active spermatozoa. If the goal is reached by the “Zivchik” with the X chromosome, a girl is expected, with the Y chromosome there will be a boy. At conception, no one can "filter" the desired sperm, although some women try to change the acid balance of the vagina, but doctors question such measures.

But there is a possibility of planning - a table on how to find out the sex of the child by pregnancy at conception in certain months. But this calculation scheme is also quite approximate, and some ovulations do not “give out” a mature egg at all, especially with age.

At what gestational age can you find out the sex of the child, taking into account the stage of development?

Doctors distinguish 4 stages in the formation of the reproductive system of the fetus. The first trimester is the active formation of the fetus with the laying of vital organs, there are primary germ cells from which the sex glands will develop. They will appear 5 weeks after fertilization (7th obstetric week). And at what stage of pregnancy can you find out the sex? From the 8th obstetric week, the reproductive system will begin to develop, activating the chromosome set. The testicles and ovaries will begin to form at 9-10 weeks.

The boy is formed from the 10th obstetric week, when the testicles, which have not yet entered the scrotum, begin to produce testosterone. External organs develop from the 11th week, but the genital tubercle is not visually identified at this stage of pregnancy, it is difficult to find out the sex.

Attention: The sex of the child begins to be revealed from the 14th obstetric week. Swelling of the labia in a female fetus outwardly similar to male organs. Closed legs and the location of the embryo in many cases do not give a chance to see sexual characteristics on ultrasound even for an experienced doctor.

Do you want to know what are the signs of the sex of the child during a short term pregnancy? An expensive 3D ultrasound examination in paid medical centers gives the most accurate result if the gender of the child is important for the family.

Experienced specialists, under the condition of modernized diagnostic equipment, determine the sex of the future baby according to the shape of the fetus and the proportional ratio. Measure the angle between the back and genital tubercle of the embryo. In girls, these indicators are less when measured than in boys. From the 22-24th week, the fetus is more mobile, it turns over, opening the perineum, the genitals are more pronounced.

Tip: If it is difficult to determine the sex of the baby during pregnancy before the due date, do not be discouraged. The main thing is that the newborn is born full-term. Future parents can come up with 2 options for the name (Zhenya and Evgeny, Valyusha and Valentin, Shurochka and Alexander). You can also buy clothes and a stroller in a neutral color. And the birth of “incognito” is a pleasant surprise, children are loved equally.

Want to clarify at what stage of pregnancy you can determine the sex of the unborn baby? In the second half of the term, it is most likely that in the first trimester it is better not to puzzle yourself and your spouse with this question. Experts recommend going together for an ultrasound no earlier than the 20th week.

Important: Early medical error is 50:50! Ultrasound is justified in the presence of hereditary pathologies and predispositions. Early sex determination is necessary only when there is a threat of genetic defects and diseases transmitted by the female or male gender.

From 18 weeks, the factors that interfere with determining the sex of the child in the early stages of pregnancy disappear. At week 20, if you have twins, the difference between a girl and a boy in the mother's womb is clearly visible.

How to determine the sex of the child during pregnancy: folk and alternative methods for determining the sex of the embryo

In the days of our grandmothers and great-grandmothers, when there was no ultrasound and medical diagnostics, the sex of the future first-born was accurately determined, sometimes even before conception:

Pregnant women were tested with unexpected requests, for example, “show me your hands!”. Palms up show women with a girl in the womb, and from the boys they stretch their arms with the back side.
Dreams are harbingers of pregnancy, usually a white hare is caught in a dream with a girl, a goat with a boy, when catching fish they are determined by name - carp or bream are in prophetic dreams with a boy. Pike or rudd dreams of a girl.
Changes in appearance - a sign of the female child during pregnancy, they said that the girl "takes away the beauty" of the mother, who had pimples, pigmentation and swelling. With a boy, on the contrary, a woman blossoms.
Early toxicosis, when "sick for everything!", Is also considered a sign of bearing a girl. Symptoms of the sex of the child during pregnancy - the taste preferences of the mother. Mothers-in-law noticed that if they wanted meat, fried potatoes and pickles, they were waiting for a boy. When you want sweets and fish - this is the appearance of a daughter.
Our grandmothers, looking at the pregnant woman from behind, could tell exactly who she would give birth to. The woman who is carrying her son does not expand her hips, her belly sticks out like a "cucumber" up, she is active until childbirth. With a girl, the figure blurs, a rounded belly, no waist, it is difficult to walk in the later stages.

There are also invasive or alternative (without ultrasound) ways to determine the sex of the baby during pregnancy. For example, if the birth of a child with a tendency to genetic pathologies is extremely undesirable (for medical reasons), at 7-10 weeks the sex of the child is determined by the analysis of the chorion.

Are there any mistakes after a biopsy during pregnancy to determine the sex of the child? From the contents inside the uterus, a small portion is removed with a needle, which will show the chromosomal DNA of the fetus. This method cannot be carried out without experience, but it works 100%. And yet women suffering from low blood pressure, bear girls, with slight hypertension - boys.

There are also medical techniques, the naming of which says nothing to patients - amniocentesis (amniotic fluid sampling) and cordocentesis (blood test from the umbilical cord). How to determine the sex of a child during pregnancy by simple signs? Modern diagnostics even determines the fetal cardiogram and pulse - in boys, the pulse is more frequent, up to 140 beats / minute.

Attention: Only with artificial insemination can the sex of the embryo be adjusted. This is an expensive American technique in which a portion of sperm is treated with certain markers and a seed with an X or Y chromosome is selected under a microscope.

The ovulation method is no less accurate if you mark the dates of menstruation and “that very night”. Sexual intercourse before the expected date of ovulation, when the sperm are already in the fallopian tubes and waiting for “a young egg, there will be a girl. A mature egg gives a boy, waiting for a belated carrier of a new life.

Scientists have also found that with a boy, the spermatozoon moves faster, but its survivability is lower than that of the slow "carrier" of the girl.
It goes without saying that before determining the sex of the child during pregnancy, they summarize all the factors and signs. Determining e remains the chromosome set.

In most pregnancies, the gender of the unborn baby is not critical. But if you are very interested, it is better to check how folk signs work by going to a scheduled ultrasound examination (ultrasound). After an unexpected first-born, you will safely plan and give birth to a brother or sister. The child should not grow up as a "lonely egoist." In Asia, they knew how to find out the sex of a child during pregnancy - they used the Chinese calendar. All that was needed was data, age and month of conception, and tic-tac-toe showed who would be born.

According to the pedigree of the husband, the sex of the pregnant woman can also be determined - the Japanese emperors always took wives from large families with the majority of sons. But this only works on firstborns, and even then, not in all cases.

In girls who should give birth to a boy first, the right breast is larger than the left and vice versa. So they selected in harems from hundreds of beautiful concubines those who were destined to conceive the first-born - the ruler of the country.

Many peoples did not know how to determine the sex of a child by signs of pregnancy, but they had their own traditions. Mature men without heirs were recommended to marry a young virgin - a higher probability of having a male child first. Widows older than themselves were deliberately married, forming a small harem, so that after numerous sons they would also have a daughter.

When men make claims, such as “I don’t want to know anything, give me a son or a divorce,” let them blame themselves! If a man leads a healthy lifestyle, does not smoke, does not abuse alcohol, he is more likely to produce a healthy seed with a Y chromosome.

And the last sign - before the war in any country more boys are born, and a lot of white mushrooms grow in the forest. This is difficult to explain scientifically. And the gender of the child is “ordered” in the temple for Christmas, putting a candle near the icon of the Mother of God.

If you didn't want the baby you're carrying, don't be discouraged, many couples are infertile and would love any result! We wish you to endure and give birth to a healthy, strong and happy baby, regardless of his gender!

Often, expectant mothers overcome their doctor, wondering how long the sex of the child is determined. The most impatient ones cannot wait for the results of the ultrasound and try to discern the signs of one sex or another already in the first weeks of pregnancy.

Invasive medical methods include two studies that are identical in their effect:

analysis of a part of the placenta;
study of amniotic fluid.

Doctors study a lot of indicators, including the presence or absence of the Y-chromosome material in question in the DNA molecules. This chromosome is found exclusively in the DNA of a man, so if it is found in the analysis, it is proved that the woman is expecting a boy, and vice versa. These methods are 100% accurate and reliable.

Women who are interested in how long the sex of the child can be seen can also do a placental examination at 7-11 weeks, while amniotic fluid analysis is performed already in the second trimester.

But there is no reason to hope for operational results. Just like that, expectant mothers, who are curious about how long they say the sex of the child, will not conduct such analyzes. Despite the indisputable information content, the above methods are dangerous for the fetus and can cause miscarriage. Such studies are prescribed if there is a risk of manifestation of genetic abnormalities transmitted only through the male or female line, it is necessary to determine the sex from the very first weeks.

With the help of ultrasound, the sex is established visually, the specialist sees the genitals of the fetus in the womb. But this procedure should not be done immediately. The reproductive organs of the embryo begin to form only from the 9th week. Therefore, the question of how long the sex of the child is known can be answered: only at the end of the 13th week, when the fetus becomes larger. At this time, the first scheduled ultrasound is performed, an experienced doctor, having modern equipment, will tell you something definite.

However, the question of in what month it is possible to determine the sex of the child, and at this time may remain unanswered. Sometimes the embryo hides its genitals behind the legs, in addition, the umbilical cord loop in girls is often mistaken for the penis. Therefore, it is more efficient to wait for the second ultrasound.

Many will shed light on the problem of which month you can find out the sex of the child, it will be possible only in the middle of the 2nd trimester, for a period of 22-24 weeks. During this period of time, they look at the ultrasound to see if the internal organs of the child develop without pathologies, and they can also tell the gender of the baby.

The genitals become pronounced, it is more difficult to confuse them, and the fetus, due to its mobility, often takes a position that is convenient for determining. Although there are stubborn kids who do not want to show who they really are.

Some women hope that they can find out their gender in the third trimester, but this is not always the case. The fetus occupies almost the entire uterus and is not as mobile as before. Only if he nevertheless takes the optimal pose for viewing, it will be possible to find out whether it is a girl or a boy.

The gender of the child is probably the second most important issue that worries future parents after his health. This information is especially relevant for those families in which there are already same-sex children. Someone wants a third boy, and someone wants a fifth girl.

But sexual characteristics are not always easy to diagnose. When can you find out the gender of the baby?

Sex diagnostics

There are many options to find out the gender of the baby. Some of them are exact, and some are very approximate. Some frankly resemble fortune-telling on coffee grounds. Modern mothers and fathers no longer look at the shape of the abdomen, they want a more accurate diagnosis.

What methods will help to reliably determine who will be born? This is a biopsy of the chorionic villi or amniocentesis and determination of the sex of the child by ultrasound.

Chorionic villus biopsy and amniocentesis

The first method helps to determine the gender with 100% accuracy, errors in this case are practically excluded. Its essence is to obtain fetal cells and determine its chromosome set - karyotype. Chorionic villus biopsy is performed in early pregnancy, amniocentesis - in later.

But this is a traumatic method that increases the risk of miscarriage, and it is not used only to determine gender. Usually these studies are carried out with suspicion of chromosomal diseases.

Ultrasound diagnostics

Ultrasound is good because it is practically harmless to the expectant mother and fetus. In addition, the sex of the child on ultrasound is clearly visible to the naked eye. In late pregnancy, even parents can see what interests them so much.

But there are certain disadvantages when using this method:

There is always the possibility of a mistake, even on the eve of childbirth. On modern ultrasound machines, it is minimal.
Gender can be reliably determined only starting from a certain period. While invasive diagnostics does this in the early period of pregnancy.
With a certain position of the baby, the sex cannot be determined, no matter how many ultrasound examinations the doctor conducts.

In order to evaluate the effectiveness of ultrasonic sex determination, you need to imagine how it is laid and internal and external signs are formed.

Laying the floor

The sex of the baby is laid at the moment of conception - at the meeting of the egg with the sperm. It is the male sex cells that are responsible for who is born - a boy or a girl. An egg always contains female chromosomes - X. And a sperm cell can carry both an X and a male chromosome - Y. A set of XX will lead to the birth of a girl, and XY a boy.

But sex chromosomes alone are not enough. It is important that sexual characteristics develop correctly. And this is a rather complicated process.

Formation of sexual characteristics

Already in the third week of intrauterine life, by day 21, the internal genital organs begin to form in the embryo. Boys develop testes and girls develop ovaries. External signs during this period are formed in the same way and are visible in the form of a sexual tubercle. This continues on average until 11–12 weeks of gestation.

The division of signs into male and female occurs under the influence of sex hormones. After the third month of intrauterine development, the penis and scrotum form in boys, and the labia in girls.

Only in the presence of normally formed external signs is ultrasound diagnosis of the sex of the unborn baby possible.

At what time can you determine the sex of the child?

Optimal timing for diagnosis

Since this question is of great concern to future parents, they ask the doctor at the first ultrasound. But usually it is carried out in a period of 10 to 14 weeks, more often at 12 weeks. During this period, the genitals are just beginning to form and it is almost impossible to determine the sex. No matter how modern the ultrasound machine is and how experienced the doctor is, the probability of error is on average 50%. The value of such a definition is equal to tossing a coin.

The chances increase as the pregnancy progresses. Already at a period of 14-16 weeks, from the fourth month, you can try to determine the sex of the child by ultrasound. The probability increases with the successful location of the baby in the uterus. But still, mistakes at this time occur quite often.

The optimal time for visual determination of the sex of the fetus is during the second scheduled ultrasound. It is usually performed at 20-22 weeks. At this time, the genitals - female or male - are well formed and clearly visible.

Usually after the 20th week, in the fifth month of pregnancy, the gender of the fetus is visible on any equipment and even by a novice doctor.

Additional ultrasonic sex criteria

Are there any other additional signs by which you can determine the sex of the baby? Yes, doctors have developed special ultrasound diagnostic criteria to address this issue from the third month of pregnancy.

In the period from 11 to 13-14 weeks, you can evaluate the angle located between the genital tubercle and the lumbar region of the fetus. The doctor of ultrasound diagnostics builds conditional lines and calculates how many degrees the resulting angle is. If it is more than 30 degrees, then most likely we are talking about a boy. In the case when an angle of less than 30 degrees is determined, parents can prepare for the birth of a daughter. According to the authors of this technique, its accuracy tends to 100% already for a period of 12 weeks. But still mistakes in this period are very common.

Ultrasound errors

What are the erroneous assumptions of doctors when performing ultrasound? Most often they happen for the following reasons:

The loop of the umbilical cord or hand, fingers of the fetus are taken for the penis.
The scrotum of a boy is defined as the labia of a girl and vice versa. Especially often this happens with their swelling.
The fetus is located in such a way that it is extremely difficult to examine the external organs in detail.
Maternal obesity during pregnancy, polyhydramnios can also interfere with ultrasound diagnostics.
Outdated equipment.
Physician inexperience.

Usually mistakes happen early. Later, at the third planned ultrasound or at an additional one, before the birth, the doctor reports new information. You shouldn't get upset. It is easy to come up with a different name, and by this time most parents have not yet acquired clothes for the baby.

It is much more offensive when, at all three planned ultrasounds, the doctors were unanimous in their opinion, and after the birth of the baby, a surprise was discovered. But this is not a reason to be nervous. Ultrasound is a subjective study, and no one is immune from its mistakes. Besides, if the kid was so actively dodging, maybe he wanted to be a surprise?

It also happens that doctors do not tell parents the information they are interested in intentionally. Why is this happening?

Information about the gender of the unborn child

Sometimes future parents are too persistent in their desire to find out who will be born after all. And their persistence comes to termination of pregnancy in case of undesirable gender of the fetus. Therefore, in the early stages, when abortions are still possible, many doctors are in no hurry to share their findings.

Sometimes they are silent due to uncertainty about the exact definition and do not want to reassure or upset their parents ahead of time. The gender of the baby is the information that the ultrasound specialist can be silent about until the birth, if we are not talking about specific diseases.

In any case, the truth will become clear in the near future, and until that time you can relax and enjoy the expectation of the baby.

Every pregnant woman looks forward to the moment when you can determine the sex of the child. There are many signs associated with this, but the most reliable method is ultrasound (ultrasound). It gives more accurate information: eating sweet or salty does not indicate at all whether a girl or a boy will be born. About what week you can find out the sex of the child, we will tell in this article.

The formation of gender

Many women try to time intercourse before ovulation if they want to have a girl. It is generally accepted that conception on the day of ovulation is associated with the birth of a boy. However, you can understand what the sex of the baby depends on, without various beliefs and signs. Not the days of the woman's cycle, not the diet and not the coincidence of the periods of blood renewal in the parents, but the man is responsible for the sex of the unborn child. And alone: sex cells (spermatozoa) can be carriers of the female set of chromosomes (XX) or male (XY).

Who will be born is determined directly at the moment of conception. It depends on which sperm was able to get to the egg and fertilize it. The carrier of XX guarantees the birth of a girl, the carrier of XY - a boy. Nothing depends on the woman in the matter of gender planning. Her set of chromosomes is always the same - XX.

Immediately after fertilization, the sex of the child, the color of his eyes, hair, approximate height, abilities and state of health are determined at the chromosomal level. All this information and more is contained in DNA. From the moment of conception, interesting and rapid processes of cell division (formation of the embryo) begin. Sex cells are formed at the 5th week of pregnancy, however, the sex glands, despite the fact that the sex is already a foregone conclusion, begin to form only at the 7th week of pregnancy according to the obstetric period (from the first day of the last menstruation).

Two weeks later, the embryo has formed ovaries (if it is a girl) or testicles (if a boy is conceived). Both those and other sex glands are formed in the abdominal cavity of the baby. There is an 8 obstetric week (6 weeks from conception). The formation of gender differences in boys is somewhat accelerated. Already by the middle of the 8th obstetric week, their testicles begin to produce testosterone (male sex hormone). Under its action, the internal reproductive system begins to actively develop.

Children acquire external signs of gender only by the 10-11th week of their mother's pregnancy. It is difficult to distinguish a boy from a girl at this time. Outwardly, the genital organs of both are exactly the same. They are a genital tubercle, which, under the influence of steroid hormones, in boys turns into a penis, and in girls - into a clitoris. This happens around 12 weeks of gestation.

Myths and truth about the conception of boys and girls

Impatience breeds a lot of beliefs, many of which are unreliable.

Relationship with ovulation

It is believed that spermatozoa with a “gentleman's” XY set are faster and more agile, and cells with female XX are tenacious, so you need to conceive a girl before ovulation, a boy - right at the time of ovulation. In fact, spermatozoa with any set of chromosomes have approximately the same viability, activity and endurance. Sexual intercourse before ovulation cannot guarantee a girl, just as it cannot guarantee a boy on the day of ovulation. The probability is 50/50 and other options are excluded.

Age of parents

The opinion has firmly settled among the people that a man older than a woman is more likely to conceive a boy. If the situation is reversed, a girl is more likely to be born in their couple. From the point of view of evidence-based medicine, this statement is not based on anything.

Although a few years ago a scientific work on this topic was published by British scientists who suggested that the age of the parents plays a role in relation to firstborns. The statistics given by them made it possible to judge the probability of such a dependence at 30-35%. Not so much to be considered infallible truth.

Season, Rh factor and character of parents

Winter, spring or summer do not affect the production of certain sperm in a man, and therefore the likelihood of conceiving a boy or girl in a certain season is nothing more than prejudice.

The Rh factor of blood is an indicator of the presence or absence of a protein present above red blood cells. On the reproductive system, negative or positive Rhesus does not affect under any circumstances. The popular belief that strong and strong-willed women are more likely to give birth to boys may be true in individual cases, but there is no convincing scientific relationship, and no convincing statistics.

ECO

Yes it's true. Artificial selection allows parents to choose a child of one sex or another, since in test-tube conditions the sex of babies is absolutely known even before a fertilized egg is replanted to the mother.

sex determination ultrasound

Often, many women come to ultrasound after a delay in the next menstruation. Modern pregnancy tests, simple at home, usually within a couple of days after the delay (some before it), show two strips. However, due to the availability of ultrasound diagnostics, most women and girls prefer ultrasound rather than testing. The sex of the unborn child before the genitals are formed, no one, even the best diagnostician working on the most modern equipment, can tell a woman.

The first ultrasound at the very beginning of pregnancy is carried out transvaginally: this allows a better view of the uterine cavity. The woman is asked to fill her bladder while the pregnancy is short. Already by the 12th week (especially in thin women), a transabdominal ultrasound is possible (the sensor will be adjacent to the stomach). Intestinal gases, which in pregnant women often accumulate from the early stages of bearing a baby, can complicate the examination.

Before visiting the ultrasound room, it is better to drink Espumizan or Smecta a few hours in advance, since the accumulation of gases can compress the abdominal organs and somewhat distort the picture presented to the ultrasound doctor.

An experienced ultrasound doctor can theoretically consider the difference in the angle of the genital tubercle of girls and boys and up to 12 weeks, but the probability of error before this period will be high.

Parents can find out the sex of their baby during the first screening (if an ultrasound is scheduled for 12-13 weeks of pregnancy). After At 13-14 weeks, the baby's external genitalia are clearly visible, with the correct position of the fetus and a free view for the diagnostician, you can touch the mystery and find out the first assumptions of doctors about the sex of the child.

Ultrasound at this time does not set itself the task of determining the sex of the baby. The study is necessary for other reasons, the diagnostician will have to find out:

the presence of pregnancy;
place of attachment of the placenta;
the number of fruits;
viability of the baby (babies);
fetal formation and possible deviations from the norm.

The sex of the child at 13-14 weeks can be seen if the child does not move too actively at the time of the diagnosis, is facing the sensor, does not cover the genitals with handles or the umbilical cord. An experienced specialist who has been working with an ultrasound scanner for 15-20 years can see them on the monitor. The method of conducting ultrasound for any period of pregnancy is almost the same. The accuracy of sex determination increases every month, but in the second half of pregnancy it may decrease.

Ultrasound accuracy

The accuracy of the first ultrasound depends on the qualifications of the doctor, his work experience, the class of equipment in the ultrasound room. The results of sex determination at the first screening should not be taken as an unconditional truth, although the probability the exact "hit" from an experienced doctor is about 75-80%. Often, the doctor at this time refuses to discuss the sex of the child and suggests returning to this topic in a month.

The conditionally typical period at which it is possible to determine the sex of the child with an accuracy of 90% is the 15-16th week of pregnancy.

When a woman passes the second screening, the question is quite justified. The expectant mother will receive a confident answer to it from the ultrasound diagnostician. By this time, the boy's penis, his scrotum and the labia of the girls, with the location of the fetus convenient for viewing, are clearly visible. At week 20, it is almost impossible to make a mistake with the floor, although anything can happen.

Ultrasound doctors claim that the sex in babies is most freely considered at 23-25 weeks pregnancy. At this time, children still have the opportunity to stretch, straighten up in the uterine cavity, open to the view of the ultrasound sensor. In the third trimester (after 32 weeks), when the baby becomes cramped in the mother's womb, he can take very uncomfortable positions, it can be difficult to see the genitals, especially if the baby turns sideways and closes the genitals with his legs or back.

Most babies in the third trimester are head down (head presentation). At the same time, the baby's legs already have to be tightened. There is often an umbilical cord between the legs, so it is difficult to see the floor. If the child is in the breech presentation, it is even more problematic to consider sexual characteristics.

Women who are sure that the ultrasound doctor sees the sex of the baby with 100% accuracy should remember once and for all: the accuracy of ultrasound as a diagnostic method cannot be 100%. Never, under any circumstances, in any field of medicine. The probability of an accurate ultrasound result during pregnancy is about 85-90%. Therefore, one out of ten expectant mothers may have an error in determining the sex of the baby.

Diagnostic errors

Expectant mothers should understand that ultrasound is done by a person who, like all people, can make mistakes. Most often, diagnosticians confuse gender not because of lack of experience or knowledge, but because of a difficult view.

Here are some common ultrasound errors:

A boy is seen, a girl is born

It is possible that the diagnostician mistook umbilical cord loops or labia swollen under hormonal attack for the penis. During the study, they are shown to the parents of the baby. However, in the later stages, ultrasound shows something else. Sometimes the sex is not visible until childbirth. The probability of such an error is approximately 2-3%.

Waiting for a girl, a boy was born

This situation is rare. It is more difficult not to see the penis than to take swollen labia or umbilical cord loops for it. However, in 1-1.5% of cases (the statistics are conditional), doctors come across such “modest” boys that they can be considered girls throughout the pregnancy because of the tightly shifted legs that cover the penis and scrotum. Therefore, if the doctors said one thing, but it turned out differently, it's okay: the child is yours.

Waited for one, it turned out two

This is also possible, but in rare cases (if one baby is located behind the other, “hides”). Usually by the second ultrasound the truth is revealed. The probability of such an error is less than 0.5%. In addition, modern methods (determination of hCG in the blood) will definitely prompt the doctor to think about possible twins, because the level of hormones will be twice the norm.

Causes of medical errors

Most often, the causes of errors lie in the coincidence of several factors that lead to an incorrect assessment of the situation. In addition to insufficient qualifications and experience of the doctor, this can be:

Outdated equipment. In antenatal clinics in small settlements, specialists sometimes make mistakes in determining the sex of a child due to insufficient technical equipment (4-5% of cases).
Pregnancy persistence. If a woman asks, the doctor simply cannot refuse to determine her gender: such a concept as medical ethics obliges him to do so. The expectant mother often perceives the doctor's assumption as an accurate result.

Fetal position. Ultrasound at 21-22 weeks can show a boy, a study at 30-32 weeks - a girl. In this case, it makes sense to trust an earlier result, since it is easier to determine the sex in the middle of pregnancy than before childbirth.

Accurate determination methods

Future parents are often interested in the question: are there more accurate methods for diagnosing sex. Yes, there are such methods. First of all, this is a non-invasive DNA test that allows you to determine the sex of the baby with an accuracy of 99% already from 8-9 weeks of pregnancy. The method is based on the isolation of DNA from fetal erythrocytes, which by this time begin to be determined in the blood of a pregnant woman. Such an analysis is considered a new method, it is carried out only in paid centers and clinics, its cost is several tens of thousands of rubles.

Sometimes need to find out gender at any cost is not a whim of a pregnant woman and her relatives, but a medical necessity. Gender is of great importance if there is a family history of carriers of genes that cause genetic pathologies by gender. For example, such diseases include hemophilia - the inability of blood to clot. It is inherited only by mothers, although only boys suffer from hemophilia. To exclude the possibility of the birth of a sick child, the doctor may give a referral to invasive sex diagnostic methods. If a woman is found to be carrying a boy, she will be offered a medical termination of pregnancy.

Invasive methods are based on penetration with a thin surgical instrument into the uterine cavity (into the fetal egg) in order to take water, particles of the fetus's skin, and its blood for analysis. At an early stage, a biopsy of the chorionic villi is performed. The material obtained gives a complete and accurate (99.9%) idea of what gender the baby is in the womb, whether he has pathologies.

All these procedures are carried out exclusively for compelling medical reasons. They are traumatic, can lead to infection of the membranes, outflow of water, premature birth or miscarriage, intrauterine death of the fetus.

The curiosity of mom and dad should not endanger the health of the baby.

Photo from ultrasound

The differences between boys and girls are in the different shape and size of the genitals. However, at an earlier date (at 13-14 weeks), no one measures the child's genitals. It is enough that the size of the testicles is normally only a few millimeters. These figures are approximately the same as the size of the ovaries of girls.

Carefully peering into the photo of strange spots and dots (picture of the first ultrasound), should be remembered: the specialist made it in the transverse plane so everything looks strange. The sexual characteristics of a girl in the early stages of pregnancy in the picture can be clear parallel stripes. There can be from 2 to 4 of them. Later, in this place, the doctor and mother will be able to see the large and small labia.

Such differences in an early picture are a great stroke of luck. More often, the genital area looks like a spot with a small tubercle, which can be both a penis and a clitoris. You can immediately confuse them. More noticeable differences will be seen later. It is better to ask the doctor to take a "photo" at the second screening. There you can see much more, especially if the ultrasound was carried out in 3D - format.

Of particular difficulty for doctors are certain categories of pregnant women, for whom the sex of the child is of particular importance. These include women from strict Muslim families, where future fathers, under pain of divorce, demand that their wife give birth to a son, as well as women who already have two or three same-sex children.

With such women, doctors and psychologists of antenatal clinics try to work especially carefully: it is possible that ultrasound will not show the gender that the pregnant woman expects. Sometimes Doctors make deliberate lies to keep a woman calm, because with her experiences she is able to harm herself and the fetus. The deception is not aimed at misleading the woman and her family: the doctor may not say the sex of the child in order to save the woman from making a big mistake.

The expectations of moms and dads are not always justified, this is a common situation. If you really wanted a girl, and the ultrasound showed a boy (or vice versa), psychologists recommend that the woman calm down, try to accept the fact.

It is important to think about what advantages there are in the current situation, how joyful and interesting weekdays and holidays will be, if two brothers have a third, a daughter will have a sister.

In the last century, parents found out the sex of their children after childbirth, but today, future mothers can know about this even before their baby, when the stomach is almost invisible. Ultrasound allows this if the child takes the desired position. So, when exactly can you find out: a boy or a girl?

Gender determined by ultrasound

At the 20th week of pregnancy, the difference between a boy and a girl in the womb is clearly visible. As the baby grows and develops, this difference becomes even more distinct and in the 3rd trimester of pregnancy it is clearly visible: a son or daughter will be born. But on the condition that at the time of the ultrasound examination around the baby there will be the right amount of amniotic fluid, that he will not cross his legs. And this happens quite often!

If we talk about the results of ultrasound in the earlier stages of bearing a baby, then sex determination has its own characteristics.

The sex of the unborn child is formed at conception. In the early stages, the embryos do not have any sex differences. It's just that all of them have a sexual tubercle, which begins to change for about seven weeks. In a boy, under the influence of the male hormone testosterone, this tubercle grows and turns into a scrotum with a penis. In girls, this tubercle turns into a clitoris and labia.

The transformation process occurs in stages, and sex differences will be noticeable only by the eleventh week of pregnancy. At this time, in boys, the genital tubercle is located at an angle of more than 30 ° to the line of the spine. In girls, this angle is less than 30°. However, for the doctor to determine this angle, the child must be on his back at the time of the study.

Medical statistics show that it always exists. Studies of the accuracy of sex determination have shown that even with the correct posture of the child at the time of ultrasound, experienced doctors and modern equipment determine the sex for a period of eleven weeks with an accuracy of 70%. When the period increases to twelve weeks, then the accuracy is nine out of ten cases.

The most recent studies show that at 12 weeks, the accuracy of sex diagnosis by ultrasound is 46%, at 13 weeks - 80%.

It is unlikely that it will be possible to accurately determine the sex of the unborn baby at the first ultrasound. Today, ultrasound machines are not so high-tech that you can accurately see the sexual characteristics of the fetus. And to all this, the doctor will not wait long until the baby wants to roll over and take a comfortable position for the doctor. By the way, at the 13th week of the term, the child is already spinning so much in the bosom of the expectant mother that it is very difficult to catch the angle the doctor needs.

And if the ultrasound doctor tells the future mother and father the gender of the unborn child, and later it turns out to be a mistake, then you should not be upset about this. Ultrasound in the second trimester, which is usually considered more accurate, can also be wrong. The most important thing is that the child was born healthy and the mother had a good birth.

Important point! Doing ultrasound in early pregnancy is not recommended. This is justified only when there is a threat of genetic diseases that are inherited. Indeed, until now, the effect of ultrasound on the fetus has not been thoroughly studied.

Folk signs about the field of the unborn child

Expectant mothers after the first planned ultrasound often compare its results with folk signs to determine the sex of the child. So, for example, the appearance of pimples, pigmentation on the face of a pregnant woman is evidence of the bearing of a girl. They say that she takes away her mother's beauty. If, on the contrary, a woman flourishes, the appearance of the skin improves, then a son will be born to her.

The gender is also determined by the taste preferences of the expectant mother. Draws on sweet - to the birth of a daughter, pulls on salty, meat - to the birth of a boy. Toxicosis in the early stages is more often observed in women who carry girls.

Sometimes a pregnant woman is tested, asking to show her hands. If she shows her hands with her palms up, then a girl will be born, if she simply stretches her arms with the back side, then a boy will be born.

Yes, these are nothing more than signs, but sometimes it happens that they all testify to the same thing. And the ultrasound confirms it. And how not to believe after this signs?

Especially for Elena TOLOCHIK