Expectant parents are often very keen to discover the gender of their unborn baby, and understandably so - knowing the gender is one of those things that really helps you to feel closer to your little bundle of joy. The people who come to our clinics for gender scans frequently tell us that the baby seems a lot more 'real' to them once our sonographer has revealed whether it's a boy or a girl, and besides, finding out the sex is a nice little milestone to get excited for when the birth itself still seems a long way off.
With all of that in mind, it's easy to see why mums-to-be and dads-in-waiting might want to attend a gender scan as soon as possible. However, attend a gender ultrasound scan too early in your pregnancy and it may be impossible to accurately identify the gender - a foetus doesn't develop sexual characteristics until a few weeks in, and nothing conclusive will actually be visible on an ultrasound scan until a little while after that.
So, how soon can you find out the gender?
At First Encounters, we now offer a SneakPeek® gender test – ideal for parents who are too eager to wait until their gender confirmation ultrasound! The SneakPeek® test is a DNA-base, non-invasive prenatal blood test that can tell you whether you’re having a boy or a girl from as early as 6 weeks into your pregnancy.
How can SneakPeek® determine my baby’s sex?
When you’re pregnant, your bloodstream contains DNA from your unborn child as well as your own DNA. If your blood sample contains male (XY) chromosomes, this means you’re going to have a boy. If there are no male chromosomes present in the blood sample, it means you are pregnant with a girl.
This gender testing method is 99.9% accurate at 6 weeks gestation and you should have your results emailed directly to you within 7-10 working days.
How early can you have a gender scan?
Here at First Encounters Ultrasound we don't offer any gender confirmation ultrasound scans before 16 weeks gestation. Other scan providers may offer slightly earlier scans, but we would strongly recommend that you do not attend a baby gender scan until at least the 16-week mark. Any earlier, and your baby probably won't have developed sufficiently for accurate gender identification.
Is it worth waiting a little longer?
While we're happy to provide gender scans from 16 weeks onwards, it's worth bearing in mind that not all babies develop at the same speed. Very occasionally, someone will come in for gender confirmation at 16 weeks and the sonographer still won't be able to find positive visual confirmation of the baby's sex. In these cases, we'll usually offer a complimentary re-scan at a later date (we'll never guess the gender if we're not confident in our prediction!) but to avoid disappointment, you may wish to wait an extra few days just to make sure that your baby has developed to the point where we're able to identify the gender.
