Wondering whether to paint that nursery pink or blue?  You may not have to wait so long to find out, thanks to a maternal blood test.

A recent Norwegian study published in the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology found that a special maternal blood test was 100% accurate in determining a baby’s sex in 200 different pregnancies.

Most parents who want to know the baby’s sex have to wait until the second trimester, when an ultrasound exam can tell if you’re carrying a boy or a girl. 

According to a WiserPregnancy survey, 81% of women have an ultrasound.  Although ultrasound exams are often part of routine prenatal care, 51% of these women have an exam specifically to learn the baby’s sex.   

However, the blood test in the Norwegian study could be particularly valuable for parents who have a family history of a sex-linked genetic disorder,  such as hemophilia or Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Being able to learn the baby’s gender sooner could help parents and doctors make important decisions about managing the pregnancy.

If this test becomes publicly available, it could offer an alternative to riskier prenatal tests such as amniocentesis or chorionic villus sampling (CVS) in evaluating the risk of a genetic birth defect. 

Do you plan on learning the baby’s sex before delivery?  Why or why not?