Gender reveal parties?

[Cersaj]

AIBU to wonder who fills the balloons? I've had a few Facebook acquaintances upload videos of their reveal, and strangers' are always popping up in recommended stories, and they have these balloons filled with either blue or pink confetti which the couple burst to reveal their baby's sex.

I can't get my head around why people have these parties at all who puts the confetti into the balloons. Originally I thought the couple themselves did it to reveal to their family, but I've seen loads where the couple look nervous before bursting the balloons and are weeping with happiness afterwards. Is it all an act? Or is there a special job where a person can be hired to get the information and fill the balloons? Are midwives moonlighting as party planners?

Who is filling the balloons? Even Google has turned up no answers.

Private scanning clinics.

They either buy the stuff at a private scan clinic who don't tell them the sex, or if at an NHS scan they may write the sex on paper and give to the couple. They can then get a friend/relative to buy the merchandise.

What annoys me about these gender reveal videos is that there's always one over the moon parent and one that seems a bit disappointed - usually the guy really happy if it's a boy, and the woman if it's a girl.

I’ve seen a cake one where the clinic wrote the answer inside a sealed envelope that they couple handed to the baker.

I agree that they are awwwful!

Another way to squander the world’s resources; making a private moment into a vulgar (and instagrammable ) public display that someone can make money out of.

Seriously, the world is running out of helium people!!

Party supply stores.

I was thinking to get into making
cakes that are anatomically correct baby shape and size and the parents remove the nappy and reveal all.
Do you think this is a good business idea ??

They just take a scan along to a party shop, hand it to the cashier, and ask them to supply them with the appropriate balloon, surely.

Aside from balloons being bad for the environment, I don’t see what’s wrong with them. I am not having any more DC and I don’t have any friends, but if I did I would quite like this. It’s just a bit of fun.

@habibihabibi 😂

I can’t get heated up about them in themselves, but I always picture a “cake smash” in their immediate future.

Card Factory! I know someone who went to one, the person who did the scan wrote i t on a piece of paper & sealed in it an envelope. Said envelope was then given to Card Factory employee who filled a black.balloon with confetti (blue if anyone cares )

The problem I have with them is that I’ve never seen one that isn’t just a tableau of gender stereotypes. Pink for a girl and blue for a boy, or themed ones asking the baby is going to be a ballerina or a footballer / doe or stag / etc (I once saw a particularly egregious one asking if the baby was going to be ‘a hunter or a homemaker’).

I just think that any parent who sets so much store by the sex of their baby is going to be guaranteed to deck the poor thing out in limitless gendered clothing / toys / accessories etc and it all just makes me very uncomfortable.

Iwas just coming on with my feminists hat on to say "sex reveal party surely?" Then I read @Cariadne's post and thought, yeah it's all pink and blue gendered malarkey. And probably the most self indulgent twaddle ever.

@Cariadne whilst i find the whole thing a bit tacky, i have to disagree with your last statement. I desperately wanted girls both times and i am absolutely not a girlie girl, neither are my DD's. They were never dressed in pink and i always kept things pretty gender neutral. So not everyone with a gender preference will do that.

Each to their own..I really don't see the point of these. Does anyone wait until the actual birth nowadays ? Is it a way to get more presents / attention. The couples I imagine doing this are they types who get down after their dream wedding is over. Complete drama llamas. Perhaps I'm just being old and grumpy though.

I agree, it’s a way to get more presents / attention . Because no one apart from ( sometimes ) the parents actually cares.

And if one / both of the parents desperately wants a child of one particular sex, then I’d wonder why they are having a baby anyway. Because no child deserves to be unwanted and a disappointment.

If you would not be happy with either sex, don’t have a / another baby.

I have always wondered this too! It's really cringe and so attention seeking and just awful and obnoxious in every way. Where does nonsense like this keep coming from? I've just about come to terms with baby showers 😂

I really struggle to understand what the excitement / disappointment is all about. Knowing the sex doesn’t tell you anything about that child’s health, well being, personality, character, interests of life choices etc.

Do people actually still think “ oh no, I wanted a girl so they could go shopping / get their nails done / be a nuclear physicist / play football for England like me and now it’s all a disaster because it’s a boy “.

Don’t these dozy people know that some boys actually like physics or play football and some girls don’t? And that any child with a mum who is a professional footballer will more than likely have at least a passing interest in football/ another sport REGARDLESS of their sex?

Because, you know, genetics and environment.

You get the sonographer to write it on paper sealed in an envelope then you pass that to your best hun and ask them to arrange balloons/cake/confetti bomb/piñata accordingly.

Hun will also need to purchase boy or girl signs from local card shop and maybe set up some sort of betting station. Hun is sworn to secrecy but tells all your mates after a few cheeky proseccos in the All Bar One.

I like them

It’s just a bit of fun really isn’t it? If I ever got pregnant again, I’m going to do one with my kids. I think it’s a nice way for them to find out

They sell all that tat in private scanning clinics. I had a lot of bleeding in early pregnancy and we went to a private clinic one Saturday for an emergency scan at around 9 weeks. Thankfully everything was ok but the girl on reception still tried to sell us a pink or blue balloon / glitter cannon / teddy bear with a record of of the heartbeat .

I love them. Its basically just a family/friend get together to celebrate the pregnancy, and with a suprise on boy/girl.

As others have said friend may do it, or party shop, i baked a cake for my friends one

It is ridiculous because babies DO NOT HAVE A FUCKING GENDER!!!!

They are male or female.

It really grinds my fucking gears.

I don't like them - but then I don't know myself whether I'm having a boy or girl.

I know a couple who announced the gender and name together- what if he doesn't look like a Toby (not actual name!)?! And what's left for people to care about when he's here? Obviously immediate family will care but the people that will only see their millions of Facebook posts will be bored of poor Toby before he even arrives. (The social media presence is a whole nother thread! But also definitely a big part to play in why these awful reveals have gotten so popular.)

I think doing a private reveal with your kids is fine if you think it'll get them excited about the new baby. It's the crying out for attention by thinking the rest of the world gives a shit that's a bit crass!