How early can you tell gender for certain on an u/s?

[Jennifer132]

I'm 13 weeks. We are going to visit my family in CA on August 8th. So I'll be maybe 16/17 weeks. Do you think I could find out the gender by then?

[momto10blessings]

Usually they can tell by 16 weeks. If baby cooperates :)

[MiMi 4under3]

16 weeks is when I found out all of mine - even the twins.

[Carrie12345]

For certain? Birth. Lol. I've heard plenty of stories!

My earliest correct "diagnosis" were always around 18 weeks, probably b/c of appointment scheduling, not necessarily b/c of dating.

[Excelsior! Academy]

I don't know if it is ever for certain.  We know a family that had 3 ultrasounds, each at different points in the pregnancy.  She was told 100% it was going to be a boy.  It wasn't.

[jmama]

Found out mine was a boy at 13 weeks.  But that was probably just a matter of him being in a good position.  I would think you could tell by 16-17 weeks, unless of course the baby isn't cooperating. :001_smile:

[carriede]

For my 3rd, at 16w I had a girl. At 20w I had a boy. :p

[SproutMamaK]

I've had "guesses" at 16 1/2 weeks, but they were EXTREMELY hesitant to even guess because even when the kids are shameless like mine were, lol, it's hard to be able to tell for certain. They usually prefer to wait til 18+ weeks to try.

[msrift]

I had a tech (correctly) tell me dd's gender at 14 weeks. I was shocked.

[craftyerin]

I had correct guesses with my twins at 14 weeks.  Tech was VERY careful to tell me that they were guesses, and not to be counted on until a later ultrasound confirmed, but she was right!  One boy, one girl. 

[NoseInABook]

I found out with my oldest at 14 weeks. She said it might not be 100% accurate but knew I'd do the 20 week scan anyway and voila, sure enough, she was still a girl. My others were all between 18-20 weeks.

[Arcadia]

Mine was both at 12 weeks ultrasounds. My boys were both co-operative and I ended up with a whole roll of ultrasound photos. Both pregnancies were high risk.

 

My mum was told my brother would be a girl though.

[wendyroo]

DH, the ultrasound tech and I all independently "guessed" all three of my kids' sexes correctly at the 13 week scans. It was probably easier because they were all boys.

 

Wendy

[Annie Laurie]

I had a 12 wk u/s with my youngest because my midwife couldn't find his heartbeat after we had heard it previously. I asked the dr and he said he wouldn't guarantee it, but he looked like a boy, and that was correct. It's easier to confirm boys earlier though I think.

[EmilyGF]

The blood test will tell you for sure now.

[Delirium]

You can't teach gender in utero.

[1GirlTwinBoys]

I found out my twins were boys at 15 weeks.

[Jennifer132]

I'm not sure if this comment was to point out that we should have been using the word "sex"? Or if this means that it's all a guessing game.

 

I'm wondering the same thing myself. I'm not sure it matters what the other poster meant though. I think everyone who read the title understood what I meant by gender, because colloquially it is understood that "gender u/s" refers to finding out the baby's sex at an ultrasound. :)

[Jennifer132]

The blood test will tell you for sure now.

I had not heard of this. What do they call this blood test?

[zoobie]

I had not heard of this. What do they call this blood test?

There are several out now. Harmony and Panorama are two. The test pulls the baby's DNA that is commingled in mom's blood. My insurance wouldn't cover it without elevated risk factors from the cheaper CVS blood test, and I wasn't paying $1000+ OOP.

[gardenmom5]

you should be able to by then.  provided baby isn't shy . . . . . .

[Lanny]

That would depend upon the expertise of the person looking at the u/s and the expertise of the person who did the u/s, if different.

 

My wife's OB-GYN is an "expert" (not a word I apply frequently to people) and he does his own u/s examinations.

 

Before we made a trip to Orlando in May 2000 (DD was born during October 2000) he told us that he was certain the baby was a girl and we could buy things for a girl in Orlando. 

 

Our next door neighbor was the ex wife of an M.D. She, with her expertise, was positive the baby was going to be a boy. The OB-GYN told us he would bet her his apartment and his car, that it was a girl.

 

I don't remember how many weeks my wife was at the time her OB-GYN told us that he was positive it was a girl.

 

Whichever, the important thing is always a normal and healthy baby. GL

[flyingiguana]

I was told by my midwife that ultrasound sexings are only accurate about 25 percent of the time.

 

That seems pretty low, but maybe it's improved since then.

 

The only difference it made to us was in picking out a name.  This takes us FOREVER, so a bit of lead time is helpful.  But seeing as there were only 2 possibilities, we just picked a set for each gender.

 

My parents did not.  They were convinced they were going to have all boys, because my dad's family had had all boys for several generations, and they had "heard" that it was the man that determines the sex.  So, yeah, both me and my sister got named at the last minute. 

 

The name they had all picked out and ready for that boy never got used.

 

(It would not actually surprise me if sex is more likely to be determined by the mother than the father.  There's a lot that can happen to a sperm once it goes on its little journey.  And with so many to choose from....)