Pregnancy Scans/Scams!!!!!

[ohanotherone]

For those using NHS services, if you want to know the sex of your baby do you have to pay to know???

I want to know the sex of my baby if possible but the NHS trust charges £50, not for a separate scan for just telling during the 20 week scan. I think this is tantamount to exortion. I appreciate some people are not bothered either way but I think that as a parent if a total stranger can see the sex of the baby and I want to know the sex, they sould not ask for £50 to tell me information that does not cost them anything.

Where I've had scans, they don't charge to tell you the sex, but they won't go overboard to find out IYSWIM.
I asked the sonographer about sexing (out of interest - I've never wanted to know the sex of any of mine) and from her POV, it wasn't a good thing. Primarily the 20 week scan is to check for anomalies, and to make sure (as far as they can) that the baby/ies are healthy, and if not, to decide what action to take.
Checking for the sex can take time to do accurately, and she felt that many parents underestimated the importance of the anomaly scan and considered it was just a chance to sex the baby. She also felt that in the eagerness to see the sex, her concentration was often compromised, as she was often pushed to hurry up and see what it was. (she obviously had quite strong feelings about it!)
Her own idea to sort this (in her eyes anyway) problem was to stop any sexing at anomaly scans, but if patents wanted to know, they could pay for an extra scan, so that the NHS resources aren't being used up for something which is largely unecessary.
Maybe this is why your hospital charge £50 to find out?

i agree
thats just plain crazy especially when money is so tight these days. i understand that some trusts have a policy of not telling any parents the sex but thats fair enough and then if you really want to know you can arrange your own private scan. we has our 20 week scan a month ago and the baby was in a funny position so i had to go back last friday for a rescan. at the 20 week scan we asked for a photo and the woman was really honest and said it would be a poor photo due to the babys position and we would be better getting one in 3 weeks and that was to save us the £5 our trust demands for one photo. i think £5 is too much as im sure some people feel obliged to get one and most really want them and the trust knows this and works on it.having said that i suppose as long as the money is being reinvested into new equipment then i dont mind £5 going to them.
at the scan on friday it was a different woman and to be honest she tried and tried to get two different facial photos for us but baby kept moving his/her hands in the way so we got two of the same photo for £5.

i would ring the unit up and ask what their reasons for charging so much is. im shocked. i know we could have found out for free but we dont want to know.

Surprised at that but it must be the hospital trusts policy. Some don't tell you full stop, ours do as long as they can see clearly. But I have asked at every one of mine with this baby, still no more the wiser though cos she won't co-operate lol.