How easy is it to see sex on 20 week scan

[blueberry71]

I've got my 20 week scan next Friday and we're undecided whether to find out sex of baby or not. I was wondering whether anyone has found out the sex of the baby unwittingly at their 20 week scan. I've heard lots of stories especially with boys where it was blatantly obvious what the sex was right from the start of the scan. Would be interesting to hear people's stories of their 20 week scans.

Providing the baby's in an accessible position, it can be very easy to see if it's a boy, yes! I didn't actually need to be told for #1 - the sonographer pointed to the screen and said with a grin "you tell me".

If you say you don't want to be told they will usually try to avoid making it obvious in how they position the wand but baby's position can't really be controlled.

I had a gut feeling DD was a girl all along and at our 20 week scan they never mentioned finding out the sex so I asked, they checked down there and straight away I said it's a girl isn't it? It was really clear. They said they couldn't 100% confirm it but it was most likely a little girl.

I had a private scan at 27 weeks where it was confirmed DD was a girl and now I have a lovely 6 month old

It was blatantly obvious with two of my boys.

A lot depends on position but we did know a couple who didn't want to find out but the baby was spread eagled and obviously male .

We already knew we're having a boy after private harmony test but if we hadn't known it would have been very obvious at our 20 week scan! Sonographer didn't need to say a word as little one had everything on show!

I did find out unexpectedly but only because the sonographer got her wires crossed and thought we wanted to know when we didn't. They are very, very good at skirting around that area if you don't want to know.

I had a gender scan at 16 weeks and it was easy for them to see but not me, neither was it at the 20 weeks.
Had there been a willy Involved it might have been different.
But my beautiful little 5lb girl was born 10 weeks ago 💕

We haven’t found out for either pregnancy - when they need to scan that area they just ask us to look away at the crucial moment.

I had a scan at 18 weeks while seeing a consultant- it was unplanned and was just because we happened to be in the room with the equipment. She told me she thought baby was a girl but not to buy anything as it wasn’t super clear. I told everyone because I had previously been convinced baby was a boy. At the 20 week scan she done the splits and we all saw she was very much a girlie!

We didn't want to find out the gender and told the sonographer. He did well to avoid scanning near the genital area then right at the end he had to take a screenshot to check it over once we left the room. I looked at the screen as we were leaving and I could clearly see it was a boy, there was no doubting it. This time around I'm going to ask them to turn the screen away so I can't peek...I just can't help myself!

We didn’t find out first time, but my partner was desperate to this time.

No luck for him though- the baby was really awkward for the whole scan. It took them ages to get the measurements and then it wouldn’t uncross its legs!

When we went in for the scan the sonographer asked if we wanted to know. We said 'no' so she told us to look away before putting the wand on my belly to find the position of the baby. We then were able to look whilst she scanned the head and body, but when she went down to the bladder she told us to look away again so we wouldn't know. This has made me convince myself it's a boy because I'm sure it must have been obvious for her to keep telling us to look away but who knows?

I’ve had one scan where the sonographer told us to look away at one point if we didn’t want to know, and one scan where the sonographer didn’t but we couldn’t tell.

dancingbee the one I was told to look away for was a girl, so don’t be so sure!

We already knew at the 20 week scan, so she didn’t make an effort to hide it from us. If you don’t want to know, they won’t make it obvious.

Be warned if you need to go for additional scans though. We were in stitches at my 34 week scan because he just kept waving it about 😂 little exhibitionist! Poor sonographer just said “did you know what you were having?” 😂

Hmm @53rdWay might not read too much into it then! We have another scan next week though at 34 weeks so depends if it's more obvious now and gets revealed.

I had a scan at 16 weeks to find out the sex with my LO.
They were in an awkward position to begin with, so you might be okay, but the sonographer didn't need to tell me whether it was a boy or girl, as soon as it's a certain angle you just know!

I had my scan the other day and told the sonographer I didn't want to know the sex. She just got me to look away when she was getting closer to the relevant parts. There was another point where I could see the top of the legs but it was impossible to tell what was there.

We didn’t get asked which was sort of good as I was in 2 minds about finding out although at first I didn’t want to know. So we don’t know! Doing a private test some point before birth maybe we’ll find out then not sure yet

It's easy to see if you're looking for it but you will be able to look away while they check that part. The whole baby won't fit on the screen so they scan from the head down. They will start with the head, check and measure everything then move down the body doing the same to all the limbs, organs etc. You'll be able to enjoy the scan, and then ask them to tell you to look away the further down they get. And they can record parts of the scan and if it's not obvious when they check they can play it back for you!

Years ago before they offered sexing at scans my brother’s was blatantly obvious and it can be with boys, it was with my DS’s. It depends entirely on their positioning at the time the photo is snapped though, sometimes they can be in very awkward positions.

With my last we did want to find out but before the sonographer could even ask us if we wanted to know, DS3 did a flip and all his bits were plain to see! Well to me they were - I'm not sure whether DH could ever tell what parts were what during scans

Thanks for all the replies. I've got a feeling this baby is a boy which is why I asked the question. I'm sure the decision will be made for us on the day! Only hoping for a healthy baby really regardless of sex 😊.

My baby had the cord between her legs - the sonographer thought she was a girl but couldn't be sure. All became VERY clear at a later scan (I had lots of scans for various reasons) when she basically plonked herself down on the scanner

Sometimes boys can be very obvious but equally girls’ genitals swell up and protrude so even sonographers occasionally get it wrong at 20 weeks.

So I had my 20 week scan and we said we didn't want to know but the sonographer still measured the legs without warning us and I swear I could see something between the legs! Now I'm even more confused then before! Not sure whether to book a private scan to find out. Do you think it's safe to say if I saw a big bulge between the legs it's a boy?