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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

The newborn baby who got a mysterious sex change

41 replies

mrsbertiewooster · 16/05/2012 23:44

Our receptionist at work, who we all know quite well, has been looking forward for months to the birth of her 5th grandchild, her son's wife was due a baby this week. She said she'd love if it was a girl but of course would be delighted either way.

On Monday, said daughter in law was brought into hospital to be induced and every morning this week, all us work collegues said 'any news?!' when coming in the door to work.

This morning, on my way in to work at 9am she said that she had news!! A baby boy, just under 9 pounds, all great! She even showed me his picture on facebook that her son put up, under the photo, her son wrote (this babies father, it was his facebook page) something along the lines of 'Introducing baby (name), born by c section, (weight) and mammy taken away to be minded', etc, etc. The photo was of a cute baby, with a blue hospital blanket and about 70 comments by other friends and family members on the 'beautiful boy', etc

So far so good.

However, at 11am break today, said receptionist came up to announce that she just found out that it was actually a girl!!! We were all like 'what?!' Looking totally confused. She said something about as her daughter in law had a c-section, the baby was wrapped up so they didn't know?!! How could the father just assume?? I think TBH she was a bit embarrassed really. And she seemed very worried actually in case there's anything wrong with the baby's genitals.

Does this not strike you as bizarre!! Is this not the first question (apart from saying the baby is healthy) that the doctor confirms!!???

Confused anyone?!

Sits and waits for reactions with

OP posts:

Alibabaandthe40nappies · 16/05/2012 23:48

Good heavens!

WorraLiberty · 16/05/2012 23:48

Well the staff probably told the Father the wrong sex.

I'd love to say things like that don't happen but since the twattish trainee to hindered helped deliver my DS2 but 'female' on the records and the HV turned up with a girl's baby book...I genuinely can't

It took 4 bloody weeks of fighting to have the details changed on the central computer...even the registrar thought he was female when I went to register him

Llareggub · 16/05/2012 23:48

Odd. What is the baby's name?

WorraLiberty · 16/05/2012 23:48

'put' not 'but'

Still angry 13yrs on

CrustyOnion · 16/05/2012 23:50

He didn't mistake the umbilical cord?!

molschambers · 16/05/2012 23:50

Occasionally it can be difficult to tell apparently. Shame if there has been a bit of confusion. Must be upsetting.

Can't really think of any other plausible reason tbh...

VictoriaWould · 16/05/2012 23:50

Well, I suppose the baby could have been born of 'indeterminate sex'. Sometime the clitoris of a girl can appear very large and be confused with a penis, or, parents often only get a quick glance of babys genitals, which are sometime obscured with the umbilical cord and parents can assume, only finding out later what they've got. (Obviously, you'd think someonewould definately confirm either way with the parents, but obviously sometime this might not get done?)

Original poster

mrsbertiewooster · 16/05/2012 23:52

How awful worra, what a truly awful mistake to make

llareggub, am worried about the names being traced back in case this thread comes up on google, but let's just say (for argument sake will make up two names) went from 'baby Jim' to 'baby Charlotte' in a few hours!??

OP posts:

Get0rfMoiLand · 16/05/2012 23:52

Bloody hell worra. What a shitty thing to have happened. I don't blame you for being fuming still.

OP perhaps something very similar happened.

I do remember shrieking 'it's a boy' when dd was born (and I was spaffed on drugs). I didn't know babies were born with swollen genitals.

Original poster

mrsbertiewooster · 16/05/2012 23:57

oh gosh victoriawould i googled 'indeterminate sex' and apparently it's a disorder.

Am feeling a bit worried for work colleague now as may be more to it than a mix up?

OP posts:

OldLadyKnowsNothing · 16/05/2012 23:57

Back in the days before fathers attended the birth, my father was told his first born was a boy. He told everyone at work, and then had to backtrack when he found out that she was a girl.

WorraLiberty · 16/05/2012 23:58

Lol that was actually the least of my worries

It was one fuck up after another with her...hence my lovely home birth for DS3

butthatsnotfair · 17/05/2012 00:08

I had an EMCS and they didn't tell us the sex.

DH had to ask!

VictoriaWould · 17/05/2012 00:10

Its most likely swollen genitalia was te original source of 3the mix-up. It would take much longer to genetically test the baby if there was any concern as to the sex.

Duckypoohs · 17/05/2012 00:29

That is very odd, I have had 3 sections and they announced the sex straight away/got dp to announce it . I can't really see how the father could have gotten the wrong end of the stick for long enough to update fb with pics and details. Unless like pp said the baby is of indeterminate sex, can happen.

chrisrobin · 17/05/2012 00:33

I had an EMCS under GA so I was not conscious nor my DH in the room when DS1 was delivered. Maybe something similar happened to your work collegues DIL, they may not have told her husband when they handed the baby over to him so he guessed due to the blue blanket. Our DS was handed to my DH in a pink blanket but he was told the baby was a boy.

thatisall · 17/05/2012 00:39

that's so strange, hope there aren't any long term problems as that's a whole lot of to sort out

worra the world and it's idiots never cease to amaze me.

NoOnesGoingToEatYourEyes · 17/05/2012 00:40

DS was put in a green towel when he was born and nobody bothered to tell me if he was a boy or a girl (although to be fair I was away with the fairies by then and probably wouldn't have known what they were talking about anyway)

Perhaps they just saw the blue blanket and assumed boy. Or perhaps they had asked at a scan, kept it secret and been told the wrong sex by accident so didn't ask once the baby was born because they thought they already knew.

tartyflette · 17/05/2012 00:47

Genitals of both sexes ARE swollen at birth and baby boys are generally even more so! (so it's usually quite obvious, unless there are problems such as already mentioned ) DS was born with huge balls, quite startling.

TiddlesTheNaughtyTortoise · 17/05/2012 09:28

A friend of mine had twins by cs and got handed one in a pink blanket and one in a blue one, so assumed she had one of each. None of the staff mentioned the sex apaarently and she didn't discover til they did first nappy change that she in fact had two boys!

Cabrinha · 17/05/2012 10:04

If the fb post said 'mummy was taken away to be minded' perhaps there was a serious concern for the mother (PPH?) and being clear about the sex actually wasn't the priority?

Smellslikecatspee · 17/05/2012 10:56

But if you didn't know that the gential of both sexes are swollen at birth and just caught a glance at swollen girl parts your brain could have interpreted this as baby balls. . iyswim?

I would wonder more if it was the other way around.

BuntyPenfold · 17/05/2012 11:02

I once worked with a child who was born 'indeterminate'; perhaps this is the case.
The family might not want to talk about it if so.

MackerelOfFact · 17/05/2012 11:04

Agree that it's an easy mistake to make to the untrained/excited eye in the heat of the moment, especially if the mother has had complications and/or the father is more concerned with immediately posting on Facebook than actually looking at his baby.

TheRhubarb · 17/05/2012 11:09

"especially if the mother has had complications and/or the father is more concerned with immediately posting on Facebook than actually looking at his baby."

I would slap him. If my dh was too busy updating facebook to be by my side or focusing on our child, I would slap him and not speak to him for days! Honestly there are more important things than telling bloody facebook friends the gory details!

Sorry, can't offer any helpful advice, I just saw that a little red mist came down on behalf of the mother.

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