Have you been told boy at 20 week scan, but the baby turns out to be a girl?

[olivelive]

We were told our baby is a boy at the 20 week scan.
I know it happens that boys are mistaken for girls early on - but has it ever happened the other way around?

Could the penis seen at 20 weeks end up being something else?
Or is this basically impossible at this stage?
Have you ended up giving birth to a girl after certain boy scans?

Happy either way, but would love to know if there is a possibility that it's a mistake.
Thankyou!

Why do posters only ever query if their baby boy could be a girl, and not the other way round?

Nope, never heard of this.

Are you hoping it’s a girl? You say you’re happy either way, but can’t think why you’d be asking if this was possible.

its Only the sonographers best estimate based on what they can see so of course it’s possible it could be the other sex! But I think it’s quite rare nowadays

By 20 weeks it’s usually very obvious. In our scan dh saw before the sonographer could even say.

My friend is having twins, they found out at 18 weeks they were having boys and I asked if it was too soon and she said no it was very clear that they were boys.

I had a gender scan at just over 16 weeks, sonographer could tell fairly easily at that stage I was having a boy. 20 week scan was even more obvious that it was a boy!
I don’t think his penis is going to change lol

At 20 weeks we were told "probably a boy". "probably" wasn't good enough for DS, who was 2 and desperate for a brother, so we had a private scan which said "girl", and she was.

It’s very unusual to get it wrong this way round. You sound keen for it to be a mistake though.

They aren’t, there’s a lot asking if a girl could be a boy. Although admittedly they tend to be ‘is it definitely a girl - definitely? Definitely?’

And to answer the question directly, because a lot of people would prefer to have a girl than a boy if given the choice. That doesn’t mean they don’t love their sons, but if given free choice girls are favoured.

Yes I just find it a bit sad that after the scan the first thing they do is take to the internet to ask if there has been a mistake, rather than celebrate a healthy son (or more rarely daughter).

It hasn't happened to me but it did happen to a relative of mine, Dr was adamant they were seeing the boy's genitals but she gave birth to a perfectly healthy girl. Actual gender was discovered in a subsequent scan..

Quite honestly after an MMC and a chemical, I will be happy with any sex of baby if I am fortunate to have one at all! That said, a close relative has two boys and another has two girls and, while they all have their moments, they are generally good pals for each other. I think, if fortune is on my side I will probably think it quite nice to have the second one the same sex, whichever that is.

It's more likely the other way round (Penis hidden by legs, body etc). Of course there will be the odd anecdote but generally, once a penis has been seen and sonographer has checked its not the leg or cord etc, then it's pretty much 99% going to be a boy.

You can often tell by a sonographers language how sure they are as well.... with my DD, she was legs akimbo for the scan and it was very clear she was a girl. I could tell before the sonographer uttered a word but she still pointed out what was what and the 3 lines that show girl etc and was very confident. I had no doubt.
If your baby is tucked up in a ball though and not cooperating, and the sonographer says things like 'maybe', 'possibly', 'best guess', 'I think' etc and you can't really see what they are talking about on the scan, then I wouldn't be assured by that.

A good friend of mine was told girl all the way through at several nhs and private scans but baby was obviously just very good at hiding what was between their legs as he was born a very definite boy.

Sheesh. Was only wondering! These kind of questions really do bring the nasty underbelly of mumsnet out in force, don't they?

Interesting! She thought she was having a boy right up until the birth?

I don't think they do. Seems to be a mix of both.
But boys are more common than girls, so that may be a factor.

It happened to a friend of mine but she was having twins so more “stuff” to get confused.

Boys are more common

Interesting!

That’s not the reason and you know it 🙄.

My sister was told 'probably' a boy (baby was quite curled up and wiggly) and went back for another scan in the following days to find out for sure. And yes, he is definitely a boy.

How can boys be more common when the population is 51% women?

This happened to someone I know, they were expecting a boy and a girl arrived. Said baby is now mid teens though, so maybe scanning equipment was not what it is nowadays.

According to WHO, there are 105 boys born to approx 100 girls

There is a (very very) slightly higher birth rate for boys. This reverses over time due to the fact that males are more likely to die in infant hood/adolescence/early adulthood.

Exactly. Always seems like they're clinging to the hope it's a girl.
Enjoy your lovely baby boy OP!