You can typically find out the gender of a baby through several methods at different times during pregnancy:
- The most common method is an anatomy scan ultrasound, usually performed around 18 to 22 weeks, with the optimal time at about 20 weeks. This scan can often reveal the baby's gender if the baby is positioned well, but accuracy depends on factors such as the baby's position and technician experience.
- Non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT), a blood test analyzing fetal DNA in the mother's blood, can determine the baby's gender as early as 9 to 10 weeks of pregnancy.
- Chorionic Villus Sampling (CVS), an invasive test involving sampling placental cells, can reveal gender between 10 to 12 weeks.
- Amniocentesis, another invasive test sampling amniotic fluid, can provide gender information around 16 to 20 weeks.
- Ultrasound using the "nub theory" can sometimes determine gender as early as 11 to 13 weeks, although this is less common and less definitive than later anatomy scans.
In summary, the earliest reliable gender determination can be done via blood tests (NIPT) around 9-10 weeks, ultrasound generally between 18-22 weeks, and invasive tests from about 10 weeks onwards depending on the test used.
