Misconceptions

• Many old wives' tales about determining the sex of an unborn child relate to the appearance of the expectant mother: how the mother is carrying the unborn child, the shape of the mother's face, and whether the expectant mom develops acne. These methods cannot be relied on because every expectant mother appears differently based on her body style and hormones.
  
  Other tales involve performing simple tests such as swinging a ring on a string over the mother's belly and noting the direction it spins, noticing the way the expectant mother picks up a key, and urinating in a cup of Draino and taking note of the color change. These methods are just silly.
  
  There are methods of determining the sex of an unborn child which actually involve the doctor and the fetus. Some say if the heart rate of the fetus is around 170 beats per minute, it's a girl, and around 150 beats per minute means it's a boy. The truth is that fetal heart rates change during different stages of development, perhaps different times in one day, so this is not reliable.
  
  

The Facts

• There are actually three ways for a doctor to determine the sex of an unborn child, none of which are guaranteed to be 100 percent accurate. The first is through chorionic villus sampling, or CVS, which involves removing cell samples from the placenta and is 99 percent accurate. This test is normally only preformed on pregnant mothers who are at a greater risk of having a child with a genetic or chromosome abnormality. Second, an amniocentesis involves removing amniotic fluid with a needle and is also 99 percent accurate. Again, this test is normally reserved for women with a higher risk for having a child with birth defects. Finally, an ultrasound is the most common method for determining the sex of a baby and involves a doctor, nurse or technician rubbing a handheld device over the mother's stomach. Sound waves from the device pass through the expectant mother's uterus and create a picture of the unborn child. A trained medical professional can analyze the picture for the presence of a penis or vagina.
  
  

Time Frame

• If deemed necessary, a CVS can be performed between weeks 8 and 11 of the pregnancy. An amniocentesis can be performed between weeks 9 and 18. Ultrasounds can be performed at various stages of the pregnancy for different reasons, but if the main reason is to determine the sex of the baby, it is usually performed between weeks 18 and 26.
  
  

Risk Factors

• Risks are associated with both a CVS and an amniocentesis. A CVS increases the risk of having a miscarriage by 4 percent and has also been associated with causing infection, bringing on premature labor and causing damage to the fetus. The risk of having a miscarriage is also aincreased by 1 percent with an amniocentesis. An ultrasound is a noninvasive procedure and does not cause any immediate harm to the unborn child. There has been some discussion in the medical community about the long-term effects of repeated ultrasounds on the unborn child, but no conclusions have been drawn.
  
  

Benefits

• Some of the benefits to determining the sex of a baby before it is born include the following:
  
  Choosing a name for the baby
  Being able to bond with the unborn baby better by using his or her name when talking to it
  Being able to decorate a gender-specific nursery
  Being able to register for or purchase clothing for the baby