Can a sonographer accurately tell the sex in 2/3 seconds?

[BackstreetsBackAlright]

I had my 20 week anomaly scan a few days before Christmas. Thankfully, all ok with the baby. At the end the sonographer asked if we wanted to know the sex of the baby. We did but asked her to write it down on a card, so we could open it as a family with our other DC on Christmas Day. So she asked us to look away and it took her all of 2 or 3 seconds, she said a quiet ‘ah yes’ and then she removed the ultrasound probe and wrote in our card.

We got a lovely surprise on Christmas Day as my eldest read out that he is going to have a baby brother! But... my question is, do you think the sonographer would be able to tell that quickly whether it’s a boy? I’ve seen numerous posts on here and other websites saying they were told they were having a boy at the 20-week scan and it turned out to be a girl! Possibly due to umbilical cord or swollen parts.

So it’s got me thinking whether she could have looked too quickly and assumed whatever she saw were boy parts?! 😂

Does anyone know of anyone who has experienced being told the wrong sex (specifically boy)? Obviously we really don’t mind either way, but just genuinely interested if there’s a chance she could be wrong? I wish I’d now seen the scan for myself! 🤦🏼‍♀️ Oh and btw we didn’t find out sex for our other DC so have no experience of looking at bits on scans!!

Thanks!

You say she asked you at the end if you wanted to know. So presumably she already knew.

After she asked us, she then told us to look away and started to look for herself...

She probably already saw it during the scan and did a quick double check at the end.

Though saying that, at my private "gender scan" I watched the screen while she looked and both myself and my husband could see the baby's penis within 2 to 3 seconds ourselves. There was no mistaking it and we ain't pros! If I recall with DS1 it also took her a matter of seconds to both find and tell me he was a boy.

Congratulations :)

At my 20 week anomaly scan with dc3 I knew myself she was a girl within 2-3 seconds of the probe being on my belly. She was determined that we were only seeing her bits and it was clearly obvious.

A friend had a private scan and was told boy. She had a girl.

I think tho it’s less I kept to be wrong with a boy prediction than a girl prediction.

Congratulations:)

Thank you 8DaysAWeek!

Perhaps she did see ‘something’ beforehand but she didn’t once tell us to look away as she was going in that area, and all throughout the scan she didn’t know whether we had wanted to know or not iyswim!!

It was wildly obvious that DS was a boy as soon as that area was scanned. The somograoher asked if we wanted to know, she moved the probe to see and I knew instantly so I’m sure a fully qualified sonograoher would easily be able to tell.

Yes it’s perfectly possible to see a penis in 2-3 seconds. If it’s there it’s there.

We've had a grand multitude of scans during this pregnancy (now almost at the end) and on all of them you can see instantly there's a little penis on the screen. It's so obvious, if we hadn't chosen to find out we'd 100% know as he's more than happy to show us. It is pretty obvious on scans, and if we spot it instantly as just the parents with no experience, a sonography definitely could. Girls are harder as it's the lack of something they're looking for, whereas on boys there will be shape between the legs.

Sometimes it is pretty obvious...

I I caught sight of my DS penis on the scan within a couple of seconds! I think with a boy it's obvious more quickly than a girl

It depends on:
the experience of the sonogropher.
the US equipment being used
the position of the baby

I agree she probably knew but just did an extra check.

Yeah it must be - during my 20w scan we asked to find out but DS kept his legs firmly clamped shut until literally the last second where he flailed and she saw he was a boy. I also wondered how accurate such a quick glimpse could be but she was absolutely correct!

Yes, they have a 50% chance of getting it right. When I had my 20 week scan for dd, the sonogropher was looking a little freaked out. Apparently the woman right before me had been told at her 20 week that she was having a girl and had bought everything in pink only to find at 39 weeks that she was in fact having a boy.

I had a private scan with ds2 as she put the jelly on my stomach she asked if I had any preference popped the probe on my bump and I answered doesn’t matter because that’s a boy she literally hadn’t even had to move about and look for how he was lying he was very obviously a boy immediately.
The sonographer will have seen during the scan the 2-3 seconds would have been a double check.

I didn't want to find out sex with 1st baby, but the second the sonographer moved the probe lower to check his abdomen/legs I could clearly see he was a boy.
Had a private scan with ds2 and knew he was a boy in less than a second.

Thanks all!

At least we can be pretty certain then, and start planning on names!! 😊

Was just going to say the same as other posters she had probably seen during the scan and was only double checking. I had seen myself on ds before we were asked but we were going to find out anyway.

We still couldn't decide on names until he arrived