Baby Gender Prediction: Scientific Methods

English: A sleeping male baby with his arm ext...
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 

There are literally dozens of different ways you can try to predict your baby’s gender. Keeping in mind that there are only two choices, any method you choose is going to be right half of the time. Before you go out to buy pink bows or blue elephants to decorate the nursery, however, you might want to wait until you have a verifiable, proven method of baby gender prediction.

There are, essentially, three scientific methods that will allow you to predict your baby’s gender with accuracy:

  1. Ultrasound. This is the way that most of us figure out whether we’re going to have a boy or a girl. The ultrasound at your regular prenatal appointment around 18 to 20 weeks should give you a good idea. As long as the baby cooperates  and the technician can get a view of the genital area, this method will be able to predict whether you’re going to have a boy or a girl in about 85% of cases. While there is some room for human error, it’s nowhere near the 50% of the unscientific methods.
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  3. Amniocentesis. Chances are you’re not going to have amniocentesis without another reason. It’s an invasive procedure, with a limited amount of risk to your baby. Usually, an amniocentesis and the accompanying CVS (chorionic villus sampling) are used to identify genetic disorders and chromosome abnormalities, including Down Syndrome. If you have an amniocentesis done, however, you can know your baby’s gender with around 99% accuracy.
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  5. Prenatal DNA testing. This is the costliest of the scientific methods of baby gender prediction. It actually tests a sample of the mother’s blood, which will contain certain DNA elements from her baby. The high cost generally prevents it from happening, and it is almost never used solely for baby gender prediction. This kind of testing is 100% accurate in terms of gender prediction.

So, there you have it. While dangling your wedding ring above your belly or looking at your belly to see if you’re carrying low or high can be fun ways to speculate about your baby’s gender, the only methods with any degree of certainty are the scientific methods.