Top 10 Reasons to Find Out the Baby's Gender

I haven't done a Top 10 list in a really, really long time.  With all the talk of gender neutral versus gender specific baby stuff from Tuesday (here), I was inspired to get back on the horse.  Here I go...

Top 10 Reasons to Find Out the Baby's Gender

1. Surprises are overrated.

2. Control is underrated. 

3.  Bonding.  Some say that knowing the baby's gender helps create an extra dimension to the mom-baby bond because you can start to develop a more detailed vision of who your youngin' will be.  In other words, you can let your imagination run wilder than you could without knowing.

4.  Nursery Decorating.  This is a driving force in most decisions to learn the gender (this and #2).  Unisex bedding options are sparse and finding gender neutral accessories can be tricky.

5.  Prevent People from Guessing.  Whether family, friends or complete strangers, they will all guess at the baby's gender.  And you know about those wives' tales (boy = carrying high, girl = carrying low, boy = pregnancy glow, girl = pregnancy sucked out the pretty...).  Who wants a bunch of strangers guessing that you're having a girl?!

6.  Hand Me Downs.  People inevitably offer expecting moms their hand me downs, which is fantastic when it comes to saving some bucks.  Whether those hand me downs are gear, clothes, toys or otherwise, a lot of them will be gender specific.  If you don't know the gender, you generally don't get the hand me downs.  Now, you may get the them after the baby is born, but you risk losing the goods to another baby who's gender is known in the meantime.

7.  The Name Game.  Picking a name can be anxiety inducing for some.  If picking one name sounds like a huge burden to bear, then picking two names will clearly be twice the stress.

8.  Knowing is Half the Battle.  Parenting with success is arguably the most important mission of one's life.  The more information one can gain about the mission to come, the better off one will be when the mission arrives...or so I hear from G.I. Joe.

9.  Testing the Gender Predictors.  Between the Chinese Gender Predictor calendar thing and the long list of wives' tales, there are an infinite number of non-scientific ways to predict the gender of an unborn baby.  If you use the scientific method to find out the baby's gender, then you can put those non-scientific methods to the test.

10.  Coping With What's To Come.  Some parents-to-be have their heart set on one gender or the other.  Learning the baby's gender at an early stage can help set expectations.  It will also buy time to grow comfortable with what's to come and seek out friendly advice.   


Any other reasons that you can think of?  Agree or disagree with any of the items on this list?  If you want to check out my other Top 10 lists click here, here and here.