Finding out boy or girl early changes one thing for sure: how much time you have. We book gender scans from 13 weeks, which leaves about six months before your due date. Your baby is the same baby either way.
Boy or girl? What changes when you find out early
More time to plan and shop.
Most of what a baby needs doesn’t depend on the answer. A car seat is a car seat. What does depend on it is the part worth choosing slowly: some of the clothes, the nursery if you want it to match, the name. With months in hand you can compare, wait for a sale and get the room ready in no hurry.
One list of names instead of two.
Naming a person is hard enough once. When you know, half the list goes away, and you get months to say the other half out loud.
Gifts and the shower get simpler.
People who love you will ask what to buy. If you know before the shower invitations go out, you can tell them, and pick a theme if you want one. If you’d rather keep it to yourselves, or save it for a reveal party, that’s your call.
Your people have months to get used to the idea.
Older brothers and sisters can practice saying “my little sister” or “my little brother.” Grandparents can practice the name. You may find it easier to say “he” or “she” than “the baby.” That’s a feeling, not a finding, and not everyone has it. And if the answer isn’t the one you’d hoped for, finding out early gives you time with that too (gender disappointment, and what helps).
Waiting is a fine choice too.
None of this is a reason you have to know. Plenty of families wait for the birth, shop in neutral colors and arrive with two short lists of names. The surprise is the same size whenever you open it.
When and how to find out
A blood test ordered by your doctor or midwife can report the baby’s sex from about 10 weeks. Many offices don’t look until the anatomy scan, around 18 to 20 weeks. Every way to find out, and how sure each one is.
Gender scans at our studio in Glendale start at 13 weeks, and we’re surest from 15 (why accuracy climbs week by week). A scan costs $100 and can take as little as 2 minutes. If we’re not certain, we say so, and you come back for a free re-check.
A gender scan is an elective keepsake ultrasound to find out your baby’s sex. It isn’t a medical exam, and it doesn’t replace any visit with your doctor or midwife. Read how finding out works, or see when to come.