except when she turns out to be a he, then it blows her whole theory. It happens.

This reason is silly to me. You can know exactly who your baby is while carrying her/him from getting to know them by movement. Who cares if it has a bun or pickle between its legs??? It does not make you bond with them anymore.

With my son, we chose not to find out. Well, I always knew I didn’t want to know the sex of my first, because I honestly didn’t care what I got. For our subsequent kid(s) though, we will be finding out. I REALLY want a girl next and I know I will initially be disappointed if we have another boy, so I’d rather have time to work through it during the pregnancy.

I just wanted to comment on one of the poll choices too. My best friend did NOT want to know the sex of her baby. She was very clear with her ob/gyn. One of her appts, her ob/gyn was out of town, and a different one was there for the appt. He stepped into the room and said, ‘So, how is your little girl doing today?’ My friend was SO pissed. Apparently the sex was written on the chart, but had no note to the other doctor that my friend wanted a delivery surprise, so he had no way of knowing. I was so angry for her.

If I ever get pregnant, I want to know because I am an obsessive planner. I’d be really annoyed if I spent money on boy’s clothes or diapers only to have a girl. REALLY annoyed.

But, “consumerism”? What is she talking about? What does that even have to do with finding out what you’re having?

Sarah’s note: My thought was just the rush to buy pink or blue items and sex-specific things.

As a non-parent, is there a way to see the results of the poll without voting? Just curious….

Sarah’s note: Hit ‘comment’ at the bottom left of the poll.

I found out because I couldn’t wait! I was impatient. The technology exists and I wasn’t afraid to use it. I think it is great when people wait, but I couldn’t.

I agree with Megan.
I don’t have kids yet but my partner and I don’t intend to find out the sex. Lots of people I know don’t find out the sex. One couple I know called their unborn baby “Little Person” or LP for short and they both spoke to the baby and when the father spoke to her (turned out to be a girl) she seemed to calm and move less, then when she was born if she was unsettled all she needed to do was hear her Dad’s voice.
If that’s not bonding, I dunno what is.
Plus I know at least 2 couples that were told the wrong sex, as katiebee feared and had a name planned, painted the room and felt they had bonded with their child but then felt weird when it was born cause it wasn’t what they were suspecting. They said they found out cause they “don’t like surprises” but they ended up getting a big surprise!
There’s not many surprises left in this life so I’m gonna wait til my babies are born for their daddy to tell me “it’s a boy” or “it’s a girl” like Christine’s husband did.

LOL! Nicole, I’m the complete opposite – I can’t imagine finding out!
I didn’t know with any of my 3 children what their gender was until they were born. I didn’t have a strong urge to know.
It was a wonderful moment to have my husband announce each time what we had (boy, boy, girl). It was extremely special to him as well.

I never even really thought too much, or questioned why people DO find out.
It was just not something I wanted to do.

Megan–why do people choose to be bothered and/or offended about something that is someone else’s personal choice??

That being said, I found out for the exact same reason as Elisabeth. And in 18 days, I will find out again. I felt like I bonded with my son when I knew he was a he. Sure, I would have bonded either way. But, when I knew he was a he, he had a name, he became my son. He wasn’t called it or she. When you’ve never had a child, you have no idea what you are getting yourself into. When I knew Jordan was a boy, I felt like I started to know him, even before i could hold him. When I was placed on bedrest and he was the only person I had to talk to (during the day on the couch) during that LONG month, I felt like I wasn’t alone. It was my choice. I can’t imagine not finding out, but it is MY choice, no one elses…

of all the reasons to find out, i dislike this one the most. it always seems to discredit the bond between mother and baby when people choose NOT to find out. it is very possible to bond with your child when you don’t know the sex. you can have a relationship and you can bond and all that jazz. maybe it takes a different person to do this, but it never felt all that difficult to create a relationship with my baby not knowing the sex.