Is it OK to be disappointed by your baby's gender?

Whether you choose to find out at your 20 week pregnancy scan or you wait until you’ve actually given birth, discovering the gender of your baby is one of life’s biggest surprises.

But turns out not everyone is happy with the outcome with new research revealing one in three parents-to-be are disappointed in the sex of their baby, with nine in 10 (91%) revealing they wanted a specific gender.

What’s more, of those who are not having the gender they preferred, 1 in 20 stated that they would not have planned to have the baby if they had known in advance they would not get the gender they wanted.

The research from www.VoucherCodesPro.co.uk was conducted as part of an ongoing study into expectant Britons. The team quizzed 2,180 UK-based adults aged 18 and over, who were expecting a baby and who already knew the sex of their unborn child.

Respondents were then asked if their baby is the gender they expected/wanted, to which just over half (52%) revealed that they weren’t, with 1 in 3 (32%) admitting they were ‘disappointed’ by the gender reveal for their child.

When the expectant parents were asked if the gender would have been a ‘deal breaker’ if they had known in advance what they would have, 1 in 20 respondents (5%) stated that they would not have planned to have a baby if they had known that they would not get the gender they wanted.

Finally, the 52% who stated they were not having the gender they originally wanted were asked if they had a name already chosen for the gender of their choice with 71% saying they did.

Commenting on the findings, George Charles, spokesperson for www.VoucherCodesPro.co.uk said:

“It’s hard not to have expectations in life and occasionally these expectations will leave us disappointed. This is no different when it comes to pregnancy.”

“Of course those expectant parents will still love their child to bits no matter the sex but if you have your heart set on a boy or girl, of course you may feel a little pang of disappointment when you find out that isn’t what you were getting. I think shaming parents for feeling this is wrong – we’re all human!”

And the fact is that for some parents, gender disappointment can be all too real, so much so that some parents actually opt to pick the sex of their next baby via a procedure known as gender selection.

Though gender selection procedure is illegal in the UK, many parents, like Danielle Lloyd, consider travelling abroad to choose the sex of their baby.

The mum-of-four recently opened up about her plan to ensure her next child is a girl.

Danielle isn’t the only celebrity to openly discuss having the procedure in order to have a certain gender, previously, Chrissy Teigan, who is now pregnant with her second child with husband John Legend, revealed she had undergone the process.

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