Gender reveal parties have become increasingly popular in the past decade. According to an article in The Washington Post, videos documenting gender reveal moments starting appearing on YouTube in 2009 and have exponentially increased since then. In fact, 60 percent more people viewed gender-reveal videos on YouTube in 2017 compared to 2016 — and that increase is over just one year.
Why have gender reveal parties become so popular? Couples are finding that an ultrasound room just doesn’t feel like the right environment for something as exciting as finding out the gender of their baby. For couples who want to find out the gender during the ultrasound, the gender reveal party is a time to share and celebrate with family and friends. Others reserve the surprise for the party, even for themselves. If the couple chooses to find out the gender at the gender reveal party with their family, they ask the ultrasound technician to write down the gender and place the piece of paper in an envelope. With a gender reveal party, couples hear the news with their family and friends in a supportive and fun environment.
Some doctors believe it’s partly the new trends in prenatal medical technology that are responsible for the surge in gender reveal parties. Early pregnancy screenings, like non invasive prenatal testing, detect the sex of the baby and can be performed as early as 10 weeks in pregnancy. This is nearly two months earlier than the time an ultrasound can detect gender.
How Does Noninvasive Prenatal Screening Contribute to the Increase in Gender Reveal Parties?
Noninvasive prenatal screening, or NIPT, is being covered by more insurance plans, and at a much lower cost, than when the technology was first released. Furthermore, NIPT is offered to all pregnant women when it was previously only offered to high-risk women (like women of advanced maternal age of 35 years or older). As a result, more families are choosing to find out whether they’re having a boy or a girl in the first trimester of pregnancy.
With their baby’s gender known earlier than ever before in history, couples are jumping on the bandwagon of the gender reveal trend. Perhaps the most “classic” gender reveal tradition is having the guests gather around while the new parents-to-be slice into a cake: The color of the inside — pink for a girl, blue for a boy — tells all. Gender reveal parties have become a lot more creative in the past 10 years. So, what are some of the new ways that families are doing gender reveals?
A Personal Touch
More couples are moving away from the cake-cutting ceremony to something with a little more flare by using their personal interests to share the news. For example, couples who are baseball fans may choose to use a baseball theme. One person will pitch a baseball that holds the mystery answer, while the other is at bat. When the ball is struck with the bat, the ball breaks and a colored powder showers the couple, revealing the gender.
Combining the Baby Shower with the Gender Reveal
Instead of having two separate events for the baby shower and the gender reveal, more and more, couples are choosing to join the two. Why not pack in all the fun at once? This is also a great option if you want to avoid receiving gender-themed gifts.
Involving Your Children
If you have children that are going to be future big brothers or sisters, it can be very fun for them to be included in the gender reveal. Some ideas for including your children in the gender reveal are:
Having the kids break open a piñata – The colored treats that spill out that reveal the gender!
Making cake pops – The color of the cake reveals the gender once the treat is bitten into.
Having the kids pull balloons out of a bag or box – The color of the balloons reveals the gender.
How Will You Choose to Do Your Gender Reveal?
There are endless ideas on how to throw a gender reveal party or how to share your child’s gender with close family and friends. Have fun with the process and remember not to stress — this is a time of celebration and love.
