how often do they get the gender wrong at the 20 week scan?

[frazzled74]

i had 20 week scan today and was told its a girl! am really pleased although would have been just as pleased with a boy! dd9 is dying to know whether she is having a sister! Do i risk telling her that its a girl? The sonographer checked twice and the position was good but obviously wouldnt commit to 100% you are having a girl. Just it looks like a girl!

Congratulations! I think it is fairy accurate, and if it isn't a good view then they will say IME. Also they are more likely to think it is a girl when is actually a boy, as sometimes the vital bits can be hidden! We had one inconclusive -probably girl - and it was and one of each fairly certain and they were. I think at 9yrs she is old enough to have a discussion about that it is probably a girl, can't be sure until is born, but will love it boy or girl etc. I think my 7yr old would get that, in fact she got it when she was 4, and any time she talked in definites we reminded her was a probably, in the end she would tell people that it's probably a boy, which is what she had always wanted so she was happy.

With your news I would feel confident getting a few pink baby clothes and maybe painting nursery pink (cos even ds at nearly 3 is still in pink room and he doesn't care), I probably wouldn't get a pink pram as that might get embarassing if it was a boy! Hope the rest of the pregnancy goes well and your dd gets her baby sister, dd1 absolutely dotes on ds, and he calls her his 'other mummy'

I know two people who were told girl and got boys. Both scanned at good hospitals. One in London, the othr in California. Both within the last 3 years. Until their experiences I thought mistakes were really rare but now I would always have lingering doubts.

I was told correctly with all 3 DC. I would tell your DD that you think you are having a girl based on the scan but these things are never 100%.

They told me dd 'looks like a girl'

Yup they were definitely right :o

I was told 'looks like a shy girl' because she kept covering her bits. I wasn't convinced, had another scan at 28 weeks and the sonographer said 'yep girl, no boy bits.' Still wasn't 100% convinved. Had a scan last week at 37+4.... full frontal between the legs shot caught me by surprise, she is definately a girl.

I think if they weren't sure they would say 'maybe' or 'probably' a girl. x

I was told at 16 weeks and 23 weeks that they weren't sure but it looked like a girl. Then at 35 weeks I had a growth scan done by my normal community mw so she checked and it was clear for all to see it was a girl. And DD is most definitely a girl!

I do know 2 people who were told wrong but I think it's very very rare.

I was told 90% girl and now have a wonderful 14mo daughter :) And as duracel said, your DD should definitely be able to understand the situation!

Congrats :)

I was told I was having a girl at my 20 week scan, the sonographer seemed quite sure... So you can imagine my surprise when, after a 17 hour labour out pops a beatiful little boy. I am now pregnant with DC2, once again I have been told it's a girl... Do I believe it? No not really

thanks, i will tell her its probably a boy and might risk buying a few pink clothes then.

At my 20 weeks scan I was told no sign of boy bits, so odds on girl. Had to go back for another scan 2 weeks later as they hadn't been able to see all the heart tubey bits they wanted (all good on that front at second scan) but, I don't know what made me ask but when the sonographer was finished, I asked if my little girl had magically developed man bits. Off she went to have a look, laughed and gave me a very clear picture of his willy!
Seems a bit mean calling him Tabitha for the last 2 weeks.
This was last week!

My sister was told "definitely a girl" ... and had a boy.

I was told around 5% chance they will be wrong. 9 is def old enough to deal with it if was actually a boy. Quite sophisticated thimking by that age, just give her all the facts. Shame not to involve her as it's fun to anticipate the birth of a sibling, etc

We were told that ds1 was a girl at the 20 week scan. They didn't seem to be in much doubt to be honest, so I would keep hold of your receipts! I think that they're usually right 95% of the time, but that means they're wrong 1 in 20, which in our hospital means that someone has a surprise every other day!

We were told ds was a boy but they couldn't 100% guarantee it, she then pointed out his willy and balls to us

We asked the sonographer if she could tell. She said "i think its a girl" "how sure are you?" I asked. "about 50/50" she said

My sonographer clealy wasn't interested in checking the gender for us(I know that's not the purpose of the scan so I have no problems with this) He had a quick look and said 'more likely a girl, 70%' We have told dd(two years) that she's having a sister. If it turns out to be a boy then we'll just tell her that we were wrong and she has a brother instead!
I don't think hey like to commit just in case.

This has slightly freaked me out as I was told at 20 week scan that I am having a girl. I would be very happy with a boy too, but have been referring to the bump as 'she', only thinking about girls names etc etc. It would be quite a shock if she came out a he!

On my scan they saw three lines, very close up - and two sonographers agreed without saying what they both thought. So not just an absence of boys bits. Does this sound like good odds?!

When my sister was in hospital with her DD, she told me that the family opposite her in the ward had been told they were having a girl, but was actually a boy, so they can get it wrong sometimes. We had our scan 2 weeks ago and was told a boy and shown his bits, but a little part of me keeps thinking "but what if there were wrong and that wasn't what they thought it was?" We shall see lol

Boy bits are clearly easier to ID!! Just to add to the list of anecdotes, my neice was told it would be a girl. She was so sure, she painted the nursery pink (why do girls get pink? horrid colour), bought loads of girly clothes (her hobby is shoppin and couldn't wait to instruct DD in that endless art), hammered name to door....guess what? Boy of course. Cue: repaint room, return all clothes, buy whole load more, change name... At least this was done before the birth. I'm sure she would have had a fit had she found out at the birth.

my friend had a baby a few weeks ago, was told girl at 20 wk scan and then had another private scan where they said boy! it was indeed a boy :)

with my dd they said at the 20wk scan girl and dp and i were in disbelief, already having 4 boys and assuming no 5 would be a boy. the sonographer CHECKED and CHECKED and CHECKED and then said 'i am not allowed to say i am 100% sure but I AM 100% sure this baby is a girl' :) we still paid for a private scan at 28wks where we saw here 'girly bits' but tbh i didnt really believe it til i saw for myself once she was born

i think a lot depends on position of the baby, experience of the sonographer etc. at 9 yr dd is old enough to be told, the 'thinkn' its a girl but they cant be sure :)

I know of a few people who were told the wrong gender - it's less likely to be wrong if they've said it's a boy, as the boy bits are more obvious, but they do still get it wrong from time to time. But if the baby's in a good position they mostly get it right.

Our consultant couldn't tell what gender DS was at the 20 week scan because he was being very modest and hiding his bits from the scan. And then when I said 'Well, it'll either be a boy or a girl', she said 'Not necessarily' and started talking about hermaphrodites

I made the 50/50 joke with the sonographer. She didn't laugh.

I hope she was correct though.