What is a Gender Reveal Party?

Have you recently seen viral videos of couples exploding pink and blue smoke bombs or of a large monster truck revving full throttle with colored exhaust coming out of its tailpipe? If so, you may have witnessed the newest and flashiest pregnancy trend—the gender reveal. But what is a gender reveal party?

At a gender reveal party, expecting parents celebrate whether they’re having a bouncing baby boy or a beautiful baby girl. Typically, there are three gender reveal ideas for the party:

1. Parents know their baby’s gender but the guests do not.
2. The parents are surprised along with their guests.
3. All the guests know and only the expectant parents are in the dark.

Any combination makes for an exciting experience! Let’s dive into what makes this a special type of party.

Why Throw A Gender Reveal Party?

There are many different reasons for having a gender reveal party. For some expectant parents, it may be an opportunity to bring family and friends together and celebrate the pregnancy. Bringing a new life into the world calls for festivity, and learning the baby’s gender is a significant milestone worth announcing!

The real question, though, is why not? While it may seem like a trend that emerged out of nowhere, it’s worth noting that the technology to determine the gender of babies was not as readily available as it is now.

Today, SneakPeek’s gender prediction test offers expecting mothers the ability to discover the sex of their babies as early as 6 weeks into pregnancy. And from the comfort of their own homes, no less!

Want a SneakPeek?

The days of heading to the doctor for an ultrasound and enduring the long eighteen- to twenty-week wait are over. You are also not at the mercy of the technician’s ability to get a clear look at your baby’s genitals anymore to tell if it’s a boy or a girl.

With the SneakPeek Early Gender DNA Test, finding out the gender of your unborn baby is simple as:

1. Ordering the gender blood test kit online.
2. Collecting a blood sample from the comfort of your home and shipping it back.
3. Receiving your gender analysis report within days after placing your order.

With over 99% gender test accuracy¹, the test is as easy as 1-2-3.

The best part? The gender prediction test costs far less than your average visit to the doctor. Starting at just $79, you can begin the preparations for your gender reveal party and start imagining all the ways to do the grand finale to present whether it’s a boy or girl.

What’s the Difference Between a Gender Reveal and a Baby Shower?

It should be noted that the gender reveal party is not necessarily a replacement for your baby shower. The baby shower is a party where (traditionally) female friends and family members “shower” the expectant mother with gifts

The distinctions between a baby shower and a gender reveal are:

• At a baby shower – A female friend or family member is typically tasked with all the planning responsibilities.
• • While at a gender reveal – Anybody can help plan the surprise (just as long as they’re good at keeping secrets).
• At a baby shower – Usually, only women are invited, along with the pregnant woman
• • While at a gender reveal – All family and friends are invited (kids too).
• At a baby shower – Gifts for the baby boy or girl are expected.
• • While at a gender reveal – Typically, guests don’t need to bring gifts.
• At a baby shower – The celebration takes place later in the pregnancy (around 24-32 weeks) because the parents have had more time to finalize a baby registry.
• • While at a gender reveal – The celebration can be thrown as early as 6 weeks thanks to SneakPeek!

Which One is Right for Me?

Now that you know the difference between a baby shower and a baby gender reveal party, you might be debating which one you should do. We’re here to say, if financial circumstances and other situations allow, why not both?

You can celebrate an intimate gathering at a reveal party and enjoy some good old-fashioned pampering at a baby shower.

Keeping in line with the excitement of bringing a new life into this world, the gender reveal party is just another chance to celebrate the journey.

The Pros and Cons of a Gender Reveal Party

While baby showers are thrown more frequently, there are definitely more than a couple of reasons as to why the gender reveal parties have been on the rise.

Consider the following five pros of gender reveal parties:

1. Big Announcement! – No one will miss out on the news. By announcing the news, there’s no chance that someone will be bitter that they didn’t hear before so-and-so.
2. Fun Celebration – It is arguably more fun for you. As opposed to a baby shower, where traditions have long been set, a gender reveal can be anything you want. You can decorate as you please, set the agenda and activities (i.e., no embarrassing guess-my-stomach-circumference games), and invite whomever you’d like. And as for the momentous reveal—the pièce de résistance—it can be as extravagant or as casual as you prefer. Get creative with food coloring and dye the filling of a cake with pink or blue. Have your guests open a fortune cookie revealing whether it’s a boy or girl. From spraying colored silly string to popping balloons filled with pink or blue confetti, the opportunities are endless when it comes to revealing the sex of the unborn baby.
3. Cherishable – It is arguably more fun for everyone else. Guests get to bask in the excitement and joy of being the first to learn of this incredible news. Plus, without the pressure of bringing a baby shower gift, the party is more of a care-free experience for guests.
4. Bonding – Gender reveals are more inclusive occasions. Unlike baby showers, a reveal involves all family and friends coming together to celebrate the new addition, rather than solely focusing on the experience of motherhood for the pregnant woman.
5. Memorable – You can commemorate the good news. Behind all the glamour and sparkles of gender reveal parties, the meaning behind them never changes. It’s a moment of celebration. A cause for commemoration. You’re pregnant! How wonderful that you get to share this with your loved ones.

Also, an unofficial reason but, who doesn’t love an elaborately-orchestrated surprise? Much like how there’s one chance to propose or one chance to tell people you’re pregnant, throwing a reveal party is a one-chance opportunity to tell everyone your baby’s gender.

With the pros, however, come the cons of throwing a gender reveal party, for example:

• Time consuming: Putting together all the intricacies from the invitations to the food to the party decorations can take weeks of scheduling and to-do lists. If you’re learning about the parenting process and working at your job simultaneously, the whole event can become a source for stress as there are so many baby reveal ideas to consider.
• Costly: Raising a child is expensive, and you may already be considering your budget as an important factor to keep in mind moving forward. The baby shower is meant to allay the expenses with newborn-related gifts; however, at a gender reveal, gifts are often not expected.
• Recognizing identity: Conversations and social culture are always changing on the topic of gender. In this modern day, gender may not be a definitive identity for every person. A gender reveal party may not be your preferred event with respect to LGBTQ+ identification. A trend of ” gender-neutral ” gender reveal parties have also taken the spotlight as some parents try to exercise “non-defining” language. However, these issues can always be addressed and thought out before planning your baby’s “biological sex reveal.” Couples can opt to hold a gender-neutral party, like opting out of some of the gender focused items like making the party theme blue or pink. These expecting parents throw chromosomal reveal parties. While this may seem contradictory, it’s actually aligned with the science. Chromosomes are the language by which the SneakPeek DNA test communicates. At the end of the day, this is an event to celebrate a stepping stone into parenthood with loved ones, and it should be special to you and your partner.

These cons can be offset by throwing a small-scale gender reveal party or by opting for more gender neutral decor and themes. You can even try changing up the rules—why not include a pot-luck option on the invite? Everyone can bring a dish that has a baby pun to it.

Where to Start

You might be wondering what the planning might entail. Before you lament the amount of time and effort this is going to take, feel free to use the following resources to plan your very own gender reveal party:

• How to Plan a Gender Reveal Party – This guideline will go over all the possible steps to planning the perfect party for you. From cakes to confetti cannons, we thought of everything so that you don’t have to.
• Gender Reveal Party Themes – Trucks or Tea sets. ‘Staches or Lashes. We love a good themed party, and your friends and family will, too. Here are five gender reveal ideas that you are entirely free to steal for the upcoming occasion.
• Gender Reveal Games – While this isn’t an occasion just about you (okay, maybe it’s about you a little bit), everyone can have an enjoyable time with these interactive gender reveal activities.

How SneakPeek works is that it tests for male chromosomes in the DNA of the mom’s blood. Confirmed by a study published by the American Medical Association, the focus on male fetal DNA is what allows for the test to determine sex several weeks earlier than an ultrasound.

A chromosomal reveal party is a great compromise that allows some gender-conscious parents the chance to join in on this viral fun without defining gender identity.

• Instead of pink and blue, you can choose neutral color schemes like green and orange that correspond to the chromosomes (XX or XY).
• You can fill a piñata or balloons with paper X’s and Y’s (or just X’s), for a fun chromosomal reveal.
• By guessing the baby’s chromosomes, guests can join Team XX or Team XY and compete in fun gender reveal games.

Planning the Big Reveal

Before even planning your gender reveal event, you will have to find out your baby’s sex. With SneakPeek, you can determine this information at the 7 week gestational age of your fetus, so there’ll be plenty of time to plan and choose your theme, but do remember, a gender reveal is commonly celebrated before the mother gives birth!

After determining the fetal sex, the couple can choose to keep this information a secret, without knowing the sex themselves, to someone they trust to help arrange the party to save the element of surprise until the big reveal.

It’s a nine-month waiting game full of wondering what your birth experience will be like, what your baby’s personality will be, and which parent’s features will be more prominent. It is, then, no surprise that being able to discover your baby’s gender can be an exciting privilege.

It’s natural to want those closest to you to participate in this exciting moment. And seriously, what better way to celebrate than with a party surrounded by your future child’s grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends?

Sources:

Bump Reveal. Baby Shower vs. Gender Reveal Party. https://bumpreveal.com/blogs/content/baby-shower-vs-gender-reveal-party

Cafe Mom. In Defense of Gender-Reveal Parties. https://thestir.cafemom.com/pregnancy/208544/in-defense-gender-reveal-party

Medical News Today. Sex and Gender: What is the Difference? https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/232363.php#sex-differences