Which sex is easier to spot at 12 week scan?

[Newdad87]

Hi,

We had our 12 week scan yesterday, and all went well, but the ultrasound technician told us she could immediately tell what the sex is (but wouldn’t tell us yet). As someone completely devoid of medical knowledge, I would have thought that meant they saw a penis, as surely it would be hard to be certain of the lack of one, but does someone more qualified know whether it is just as easy (or even easier) to see if a foetus is a girl than a boy? Thanks!

The baby doesn’t have a penis yet. What she was probably seeing was the ‘nub’ which will either become a penis or vulva, depending obviously on the sex.

The nub is parallel to the spine in girls but pointing slightly upwards in boys.

Also girls have a bulbous skull whereas boys have a skull which slopes backwards from the brow.

Thanks! So the fact it was straightforward to determine at this early stage doesn’t give any clue as to what the sex is? Or would one if those options be a lot more straightforward to spot at 12 weeks? She seemed very confident!

This happened to two friends. Both had boys. Seems like a no brainer to me.

My third was a girl and you could see from the nub shot. Post a pic if you got one . As TeamCuthbert said there are things to look at to see which sex - so could be either.

It’s a boy.

Boy x

Hm. 12 weeks is very early. We were told one sex (m) at 16 weeks and another (f) at 20, so I’d be careful with guessing either way!

Shit. Wrong way round! Girl then actually boy!

Be patient, you’ll find out soon enough

Do you have a scan photo we can see?

I could tell mine was a boy in all my scans. I had to go for my 20 week scan twice and they were cagey about telling me it's a girl, so I think it's much easier to know it's a boy than a girl.

Actually that makes no sense - I'm talking about 2 different pregnancies!
The boy pregnancy everyone laughed at how he always had his bits on show.
The second (girl) they were cautious about telling me the sex.

My 12 week scan was at 13 weeks and they could see DS was a boy. Not because of a penis but because of a stacked, angled nub. It was clear it was developing into male genitalia but it was a completely fluke angle which showed it in glorious technicolour.

I had a private scan at 11 weeks and the sonographer told me it was a girl.

I have two DDs.

First DD... 12 week scan was done by medical school professor. He asked if we were ok with him explaining to his group of students about the early indicators of sex. He explained why he believed the baby to be female... But said he wouldn't commit either way at 12 weeks for definite.

Second DD... Sonographer couldn't confirm sex at the 20week scan.

I saw a fetal medicine specialist at 12 weeks who said he was 70% confident we were having a girl and he pointed out two lines that were the labia. We were told girl again at a 16 week scan and it officially made it onto my notes after my 20 weeks scan.

Weirdly, both DC1 and 2 were boys and no OB would confirm that until my 20w scans.

Thanks for all your replies! Seems a lot of people think it suggests a boy, but that it is actually also possible to tell if it is a girl at this point in time. I guess we’ll just wait and see!