Dear doctor,

I'm 8 weeks pregnant and I would like to go through theultrasound scan now to know that the babies growth is extremely perfect. At the same time I would like to know the gender of the baby as I'm curious and I have to plan abt the name and all. Can you please suggest me by seeing the scan, can I read the scan to know the gender either by viewing directly while scanning is done or by seeing the hard copy. I know at 8 weeks it is some times not 100% visible to know the gender but can you please suggest me how to read. Please kindly dont keep this mail a side...I really hope you'll answer to me.

scans are not used to tell the sex of the baby.at 20 weeks they are to show any anomalies in the baby which is why they are called anomaly scans. in saying that some sonographers will tell you what they THINK the sex of the baby will be. they wont say for certain in case they get it wrong. i cant think anywhere will tell you the sex at just 8 weeks. dont you think it would be nice to have a surprise anyway? have a shortlist of names then when you see your baby for the 1st time you can say that he/she is a ...../......? i thought of amy for a girl, shes now a 3 year old called chloe!! amy just didnt suit her. good luck with your pregnancy and take care. x

The first scan where they thought they could tell the gender was 12 weeks - they thought boy
The next scan they did at 16 weeks, was hard to tell cause cord was in the way but they changed their mind to girl
The most recent scan was at 21 weeks - now they are 99% confident it is a girl

So as you can see - it probably is too early for you, and also even later on they may not be able to say for sure.

Re: baby's development - here they do a scan just after 20 weeks called and "anatomy scan" where they check that all the major organs are present and appear to be functioning (e.g. they know the kidneys are working if there is urine in the bladder, for example) and also check for visible soft markers for downs syndrome. I don't think they can tell all of these things earlier.

So you probably have to wait a bit!

"Dear doctor ?"

Dear Smithag....

You won't be able to find out the sex of your baby just as yet! You will have to wait your second scan which is around 20 weeks. If you really want to find out before, you probably can book a private scan (which will cost around £150 or £200) but I'm not quite sure at what stage the sonografer can tell you, maybe 16 weeks?

Also I'm confused because you wrote your post as though sending an email to a doctor! It's a forum here, and you're more likely to chat to other mums or mums to be....

Anyway good luck for everything!!!

Sweet Mamma