'surprise' camp may have a point!

Knowing the sex of your second child stops the 'I only want a sister' conversation with the first child. Being able to tell my daughter she was going to have a brother made the acceptance of her brother very easy. Her telling all her friends was very exciting for her and made her feel

When it comes to finding out whether your baby is a boy or a girl before the birth there are two very clear camps on this subject, the 'yes we want to know' and 'no, we want the surprise' As a birth announcement website we like to think we know everything when it comes to babies; so lets discuss the pros & cons.

So what are the merits of each? As a member of the 'I knew in advance' camp I loved bonding with my children while they were still growing. I loved picking the name and chatting to Tallulah during our 40 weeks together. It wasn't really about the colour of the nursery walls more that I just wanted to concentrate on her and the birth rather than the fixation of her sex! You don't really go for pink just in case they are wrong but I loved knowing!

With Freddie I chose to have a CVS (chronic villus sampling) due to a poor scan and therefore had a full report with MALE at the top, so he was a dead cert! But that's the negative; they don't always get it right. Imagine your state of mind having had 2 boys and having been told you are having a girl to then have a boy! When it happened to a friend of mine it took a long time for her to accept this little boy was hers and to get over her huge disappointment-something she wouldn't have had had she not chosen to know! So the 'surprise' camp may have a point!

Knowing the sex of your second child stops the 'I only want a sister' conversation with the first child. Being able to tell my daughter she was going to have a brother made the acceptance of her brother very easy. Her telling all her friends was very exciting for her and made her feel

t are the merits of each? As a member of the 'I knew in advance' camp I loved bonding with my children while they were still growing. I loved picking the name and chatting to Tallulah during our 40 weeks together. It wasn't really about the colour of the nursery walls more that I just wanted to concentrate on her and the birth rather than the fixation of her sex! You don't really go for pink just in case they are wrong but I loved knowing!

With Freddie I chose to have a CVS (chronic villus sampling) due to a poor scan and therefore had a full report with MALE at the top, so he was a dead cert! But that's the negative; they don't always get it right. Imagine your state of mind having had 2 boys and having been told you are having a girl to then have a boy! When it happened to a friend of mine it took a long time for her to accept this little boy was hers and to get over her huge disappointment-something she wouldn't have had had she not chosen to know! So the 'surprise' camp may have a point!

Knowing the sex of your second child stops the 'I only want a sister' conversation with the first child. Being able to tell my daughter she was going to have a brother made the acceptance of her brother very easy. Her telling all her friends was very exciting for her and made her feel

th rather than the fixation of her sex! You don't really go for pink just in case they are wrong but I loved knowing!

With Freddie I chose to have a CVS (chronic villus sampling) due to a poor scan and therefore had a full report with MALE at the top, so he was a dead cert! But that's the negative; they don't always get it right. Imagine your state of mind having had 2 boys and having been told you are having a girl to then have a boy! When it happened to a friend of mine it took a long time for her to accept this little boy was hers and to get over her huge disappointment-something she wouldn't have had had she not chosen to know! So the 'surprise' camp may have a point!

Knowing the sex of your second child stops the 'I only want a sister' conversation with the first child. Being able to tell my daughter she was going to have a brother made the acceptance of her brother very easy. Her telling all her friends was very exciting for her and made her feel

t it right. Imagine your state of mind having had 2 boys and having been told you are having a girl to then have a boy! When it happened to a friend of mine it took a long time for her to accept this little boy was hers and to get over her huge disappointment-something she wouldn't have had had she not chosen to know! So the 'surprise' camp may have a point!

Knowing the sex of your second child stops the 'I only want a sister' conversation with the first child. Being able to tell my daughter she was going to have a brother made the acceptance of her brother very easy. Her telling all her friends was very exciting for her and made her feel

'surprise' camp may have a point!

Knowing the sex of your second child stops the 'I only want a sister' conversation with the first child. Being able to tell my daughter she was going to have a brother made the acceptance of her brother very easy. Her telling all her friends was very exciting for her and made her feel included and important.

And its definitely 50% easier only having to choose a name from one sex! And you can even plan your birth announcement cards in advance!

In the ‘wait and see’ camp there is the thrill of not knowing. Friends tell me it is doubly exciting and something to focus on during the birth that the sooner the baby is out, the sooner you know! I can see that being a benefit. Then there are all the methods of discovering the sex that are tested on you! Lying on the floor with your wedding band hung from a piece of string seems a popular method to be certain of a girl- but only if the ring swings from left to right! And I guess there is the betting that the husbands can take part in and your best mate who ‘just knows’ it’s a boy!

So does it really matter if you know or not? Does it make planning any easier? Probably not but what ever you decide to do you will still be amazed by your little baby when it arrives, no matter whether a girl or a boy!