Boy or Girl – How to Determine a Child's Gender?
The shape of the belly or various culinary cravings do not indicate whether you will give birth to a son or a daughter. There is no scientific evidence confirming this. However, you don't have to wait until childbirth to know the baby's gender. Today, prenatal tests provide this opportunity.
The desire to know the baby's gender arises not only from curiosity but also from the need to establish a connection with the little one growing in one's womb.
When Can You Know the Baby's Gender?
Although the baby's gender is determined after conception, the genital organs (labia and penis) begin to develop only after the 9th week of pregnancy. There is a chance to see them in an ultrasound scan after the 15th week. However, there are other prenatal tests that can dispel doubts earlier: girl or boy?
Prenatal Tests and Baby's Gender – Which Ones to Perform?
In the first trimester of pregnancy, screening tests such as prenatal ultrasound and the PAPPA test (double test) are recommended to detect abnormalities and assess placental function. However, you won't find out the baby's gender at this point.
For mothers who really want to know the baby's gender, non-invasive prenatal tests are an option. These tests can be performed after the 9th week of pregnancy (they are also recommended in case of abnormal PAPPA test results, after the 11th week of pregnancy).
Confirmation of the baby's gender can be obtained by isolating free fetal DNA from a sample of the mother's blood (collected similar to a morphology test). This method primarily allows the assessment of the risk of genetic disorders, such as Down syndrome or Turner syndrome. Tests of this type are VERACITY and VERAGENE, and the results are obtained within 10-14 days.
At What Week Can You See the Baby's Gender in an Ultrasound Scan?
Determining the baby's gender in an ultrasound scan before the 15th week of pregnancy can be quite challenging even for the best specialists. Why? Due to the position of the baby, which changes, and it's never certain whether this will hinder the interpretation of the results. Another issue is the pubic bone, which in the ultrasound image can resemble male genital organs but might not be them. Identifying the gender can also be impossible when the umbilical cord obscures the genital organs.
Usually, after the 15th week of pregnancy, when the genital organs are fully developed, it is possible to determine whether a girl or a boy will be born. The confirmation of the prenatal ultrasound result will be a mid-pregnancy ultrasound, which is performed between the 18th and 22nd weeks of pregnancy. It is important for this examination (2D, 3D, or 4D ultrasound) to be conducted using modern, certified equipment and by a specialist with extensive experience.
What Influences the Baby's Gender?
Did you know that the baby's gender is influenced by sex chromosomes passed on by the father? If the baby receives an X chromosome at the moment of conception, it will be a girl. If it receives a Y chromosome, then a boy will be born. This happens because the father has an XY karyotype, and the mother has XX, and she always passes an X chromosome to the child.
It is worth noting that in women who conceive naturally, genetic disorders related to sex chromosomes can also be detected. Non-invasive prenatal tests described above are used for this purpose.