Expecting a child is an exciting and joyful period. Each visit to the ultrasound is especially exciting, since this is an extra chance to look at your future baby.
Many couples look forward to an ultrasound scan in order to find out who they expect - a son or daughter. It is this diagnostic method that allows you to more accurately establish the gender of the developing fetus. But before ultrasound, you can determine the sex of the child in other ways.
How long can I find out the gender of the child? And how can this be done?
How to find out the gender of the child?
The most reliable way is an ultrasound scan. But it is carried out at certain periods of pregnancy, and future parents want to know who will be - a boy or a girl - as soon as possible.
Therefore, most people turn to the help of folk signs, which are in no way connected with medicine, but often prove to be reliable and correctly determine the gender of the baby.
There is another way to determine sex - invasive.
Omens
Ultrasound appeared recently, but the desire to know the sex of the unborn child has always been. Therefore, people showed remarkable observation, noting the characteristic signs for the future boy or girl.
For example, the following symptoms indicate that a pregnant woman is expecting a girl:
- I constantly want sweets;
- the first weeks are accompanied by severe toxicosis;
- pigmentation appeared in the abdomen in the form of spots or stripes;
- many acne appeared on the face;
- weight is growing rapidly;
- the shape of the abdomen is round, and he himself is raised;
- mood changes constantly;
- Heart rate of more than 130 beats per minute;
- it is more convenient to sleep on the right side.
These signs are used now. And they say that if a girl is expected, then the woman’s appearance worsens, because her daughter takes away her beauty.
The following observations indicate that the boy is expected:
- woman does not suffer from toxicosis;
- pointy belly;
- from food you want meat and milk;
- legs are constantly freezing;
- pulls on the salty;
- increased, sometimes dark vegetation appears on the stomach, legs, and face;
- sleep more comfortably on your left side;
- swelling of the legs appears.
How long do they know the gender of a child according to popular beliefs? Practically on anyone, starting from the moment of conception.
You can also find out the sex of the child by the date of conception, you only need to know her as accurately as possible. Knowing the date of conception, you can also know the time of blood renewal, and this information will give a probable result.
Invasive methods
You can find out the sex of a child whose term is not yet large by three invasive methods. Their essence is the study of the collected biomaterial and the determination of chromosomes in DNA. If XX chromosomes - then gender is female, if XY - then male.
Invasive methods are:
- Amniocentesis. It consists in collecting a small amount of amniotic fluid for a period of 16-18 weeks.
- Cordocentesis is the removal of a blood sample from an umbilical cord.
- Chorionic villus biopsy - taking villi from the placenta for a period of 10-12 weeks.
But the listed methods are unsafe for the baby. They can lead to his death. Therefore, they resort to them only in extreme cases associated with genetic diseases.
The need for ultrasound during pregnancy
Ultrasound is the necessary diagnosis during pregnancy, which allows you to see not only the development of the fetus, but also its gender. This is the only method for determining sex that is highly accurate today. But this is possible at certain stages of pregnancy.
Some parents are told the gender of the child in the first trimester, but for some this remains a mystery until the third. And the point is not in the development of the child, but in its placement inside. That is, it can be so grouped in the mother’s stomach that no ultrasound can make out its gender.
The formation of the reproductive system of the fetus
Until the end of the first trimester, the child’s organs are just being laid. The same applies to the reproductive system. Its anlage, the genital tubercle, is the same for both boys and girls, so at this time the doctor can give only an approximate answer.
By the end of the first trimester, or rather at 12 weeks, the differentiation of sexual organization begins. If the growing child is a boy, then in his body the level of testosterone rises and the genitals develop. If the fetus is a girl, then by and large her reproductive system remains the same as it was at 8 weeks.
What affects gender formation?
Several factors can affect the formation of the sex of the unborn child. Knowing this, a couple planning a baby can "choose" the gender of the unborn child.
- Age of parents. It is believed that if the father is older than the mother, then a boy is more likely to be born, and vice versa.
- Season. More likely, a couple will have a son if conception occurred from September to November. If it happened in the spring and summer, a girl will be born.
- Mom's nutrition. Doctors prescribe a future mother a special diet 4 months before the day of conception. After conception, it is stopped. So, if the desire of the potential mother is the birth of a son, then her diet must contain: fish, potatoes, mushrooms, beans, pasta, salted foods, peaches, bananas, teas and fruit juices. If there is a desire to give birth to a girl, then the diet should consist of: dairy products, cereals, onions, peppers, tomatoes, fresh fish, crayfish, nuts, honey, chocolate, cocoa and citrus juice.
- Temperament of a woman. It is believed that if the expectant mother has a strong, energetic and self-confident character, then her firstborn will be a son. This is due to the predominance of testosterone in the woman’s body, which “forces” the egg to select a sperm that carries “male” information.
What week can I find out the gender of the child?
The theory does not refute the fact that the sex of the future baby can be found at 12 weeks. In practice, this is far from possible for every woman. Ultrasound diagnostics are carried out (normal) 3 times per pregnancy: once every trimester. And, as a rule, most often you can accurately determine the baby’s gender in the second trimester, or rather, at 18-20 weeks.
At the third ultrasound, the doctor only confirms the information on gender obtained in the second diagnosis.
First screening
The first screening is prescribed to a pregnant woman at 12 weeks of gestation. And only a small number of future mothers can boast that they already know who they will be born.
In fact, the gender of the fetus is laid in the first weeks of its development, but according to external signs (genitals), it is impossible to determine so early, since the genitals in the first trimester have not yet formed or are just beginning to “emerge”.
Second ultrasound
The second ultrasound is performed in the second trimester, and more precisely at 18-20 weeks. The optimal period is exactly 20 weeks. By this time, the child’s reproductive system is fully formed, it only grows as the fetus grows. In fact, already all of the baby’s organ systems are developed by this time. That is why a child born at 20 weeks has a great chance of survival, despite its tiny size and weight.
Therefore, if you are in a position, then be patient and wait for a second ultrasound to determine the gender of the baby. If you were named one sex of the child in the first screening, and the other was designated on the second, then the second testimony should be trusted. Their reliability will be confirmed at the final ultrasound.
Therefore, to the question "What week do they know the sex of the child?" we can answer with confidence - 20.
Can an ultrasound machine make mistakes?
The latest medical equipment - an ultrasound machine - provides accurate sex determination information (90%). But in 10%, the device presents incorrect information. Why is this possible?
- The first is a short gestation period, literally the first weeks. The first screening, as mentioned earlier, is assigned at the end of the first trimester, when the reproductive system of the fetus is still infantile, that is, not fully developed. Therefore, the probability of error is very high.
- The activity of the child. Doctors have already proved more than once that when a ultrasound probe comes in contact with a pregnant woman’s stomach, the baby begins to actively move its arms and legs and even roll over. Even a baby who is calm before that reacts intensively to the device. And this is due to the fact that for the baby’s ear in the womb, the sound made by the ultrasound sensor is very loud. Therefore, he tries to dodge, so that he does not cause him discomfort. A child can roll over so that he closes his sexual sign with a pen or foot. Therefore, even in the third trimester it is not always possible to consider? there will be a boy or a girl.
- The location of the fetus. The child may roll over to the ultrasound sensor with his back or side. Therefore, it becomes difficult to discern gender identity. It often happens that a child-girl closes her genitals with a pen, leading the doctor to the erroneous opinion that there is a boy in the womb.
- Insufficient doctor experience. Unfortunately, the chance to come across an inexperienced doctor is great.
As mentioned above, the probability of error is small, but it is. And it does not depend on the diagnostic apparatus itself, which now has high accuracy.
Ultrasound 3D - a modern type of diagnosis
How to find out the sex of the child by ultrasound - figured out. But the latest technology allows us to make this method even more perfect. It's about ultrasound 3D. This development is still very young, so the debate about what is more in it - pluses or minuses, continues to this day. But you can say for sure that the 3D-device is good for its "completeness of the image." That is, on the screen, future parents will be able to consider not only the gender of the child, but also the features of his face, as well as the presence of pathologies of development (if any) in real-time mode. This is a truly unique achievement in the field of medicine, which gives a 100% result.
You can conduct a study starting from 20 weeks. But more often it is done in the third trimester, when the fetus is fully formed. To do in the early stages (up to 10 weeks) is highly discouraged, since the device emits high-frequency ultrasound, which can be fatal to the developing fetus. In addition, the radiation of the apparatus can provoke the formation of free radicals, which can alter the structure of DNA, as well as affect the metabolism of the child.
Conclusion
Units of future parents are able to overcome their curiosity and not know the gender of the child right up to childbirth. This interest arises from the moment they find out that replenishment is expected in the family. Someone is just interested to know what gender the heir will be in the family, and someone proceeds from rational motives: you need to prepare the room, furniture and children's things in advance according to the gender of the unborn child.
However, you need to be patient and wait for the 6-month gestation period.