Biological and social factors influencing gender identification are so closely related that it is difficult to understand them. When a child is born to parents, in modern times it is already known in advance what gender it will be, but if the mother did not know this before giving birth. What a thirst she would have then to find out the sex of the baby as quickly as possible. This happens because parents treat their children differently depending on their gender. Thus, the behavior of mom and dad gives the child an incentive to learn more about himself by identifying himself by gender.

After conception, the process of formation of sexual characteristics in the embryo occurs. Having united, the female and male cells combine their chromosomes, 23 each from the sperm and egg into a new organism. This gives a total of 46 chromosomes. A female cell always carries an X chromosome, and a male spermatozoon either Y or X. Thus, the female code is XX, and the male XY is male.

Further in the development of the embryo, the stage of formation of the gonads takes place. This occurs in the sixth week of pregnancy. Before this period, it is impossible to determine the fetus. A male embryo occurs when a male chromosome is present. The H-Y antigen, which is responsible for the male genetic code, must be present here. The absence of this antigen indicates that the sex of the child will be female.

The appearance of the genital organs occurs after the stage of formation of the gonads with the help of hormones. This stage begins at 8-9 weeks of pregnancy. When the amount of testosterone produced is greater, the gender is determined to be male. Both female and male bodies contain hormones of both sexes, however, a greater amount of a particular hormone indicates a specific gender.

The process of intrauterine development of the fetus involves the influence of androgens on it (hormones that play a decisive role in the occurrence of secondary sexual characteristics in both one and the other sex, for example, a rough voice, “vegetation” on the face and the whole body. As in all men, increased secretion sweat, elongation of the penis, formation of the face and body skeleton according to the male type, increase in the size of the prostate and the amount of its secretion). If androgens do not have a sufficient effect on the fetus, then a girl will be born. In the first period, the formation of the genital organ occurs. Then comes the creation of the brain's sexual orientation. The stage of formation of the male or female hypothalamus is underway.

Laying of external organs

In the seventh week, organs specific to a particular sex undergo changes under the influence of sex hormones.
In the female fetus, steroid hormones form the labia, and in the male fetus, the penis. The genital tubercle becomes the penis in men and the clitoris in women.
At the beginning of the 3rd month, the vaginal slit opens in girls and the length of the penis increases in boys. 11-12 weeks is the period when it is possible to accurately distinguish one sex from another based on sexual characteristics; in a fetus with XY chromosomes, the median suture becomes overgrown.

Laying the internal organs:

1. During the initial 6 weeks of pregnancy, male and female embryos cannot be distinguished;
2. Only after 8 weeks of pregnancy, the testes of an embryo with the sexual characteristics of a boy release testosterone and an inhibitor of the Müllerian ducts, leading to the disappearance of the ducts themselves. In the absence of male hormones, the Müllerian ducts (a double canal with a connected distal part, which appears after the end of the second month of development of the embryo inside the mother from the grooves that perform the demarcating role of the epithelium) begin to transform into female organs. The Wolffian ducts (structures in the fetus that subsequently develop into the male genital organs located inside) cease to exist.
3. After 9 months of pregnancy, in the female fetus, the Müllerian duct turns into the fallopian tubes, and in the male fetus, the glands turn into the scrotum.

Video of how a baby’s gender is determined

obstetrics and gynecology Articles

Dates of pregnancy and gender of the baby

2017-03-17

Most couples expecting the birth of a baby want to find out the gender of their child as soon as possible. Someone dreams of buying pink or blue vests, someone can’t wait to choose a name for a boy or girl in order to start fully communicating with him (her), and someone is simply burning with curiosity. Of course, there are also lovers of surprises who delay the pleasant moment of meeting the baby until the birth, not wanting to find out the sex of the fetus until that moment. We share the romanticism of this approach, and for those who want to reveal the secret of their baby’s gender as early as possible, we will tell you how and when this can be done.

So, first let's talk about How do external sexual characteristics of the fetus develop during pregnancy?. Gender itself, as you know, is determined at conception: if a sperm with an X chromosome took part in the fertilization process, then a girl will be born, and if Y, then a boy. Meanwhile, external confirmation of this event will not be immediately visible. Approximately by the 6th week of embryonic life (8 obstetric weeks), the child develops a genital tubercle - this is the embryonic rudiment of the future genital organ. The connective tissue swollen in the form of a roller at this stage looks exactly the same in boys and girls. This situation persists until 13 obstetric weeks (11 after conception), when the penis begins to form in boys. The body of the penis is formed from the genital folds, and the scrotum is formed from the labial-scrotal tubercles. At this stage of development, the testicles are still located in the fetal abdomen, and their descent will be a long and difficult process, which will be fully completed only in late pregnancy (and sometimes after birth). In girls, the appearance of the genitals after 8 weeks changes only slightly. The genital tubercle becomes the clitoris, the urogenital folds form the labia minora, and the labioscrotal tubercles enlarge and become the labia majora.

How long can you determine the sex of a child? The earliest way to determine the sex of a baby is chorionic villus biopsy . This procedure can be carried out as early as 7 weeks after conception (optimally at 9-12 weeks), but it is used strictly for medical reasons. Such indications may be:

• The pregnant woman's age is 35 years or older.
• burdened obstetric and genetic history (history of the birth of a child with congenital malformations, chromosomal or monogenic disease)
• familial carriage of a chromosomal abnormality or gene mutation
• echography data (at 10-14 weeks, the thickness of the nuchal translucency is >3 mm)

Chorionic villus biopsy is extremely dangerous and can lead to spontaneous abortion (miscarriage), bleeding or hematoma formation. That is why they resort to it solely for the purpose of identifying and preventing chromosomal diseases, and not because of idle curiosity. Technically, the procedure consists of taking a piece of amniotic tissue from the uterus with a special catheter and studying it in the laboratory, determining the sex of the baby based on the chromosome set.

At a period of 10-14 weeks (optimally 16-20 weeks) you can carry out amniocentesis . This is another dangerous procedure used to diagnose congenital and hereditary diseases. The doctor punctures the amniotic membrane to obtain amniotic fluid for subsequent laboratory testing. Since the amniotic sac is punctured, possible complications include leakage and rupture of amniotic fluid, detachment of the membranes and their infection. In addition, test results may have to wait up to three to five weeks because the sample often contains only a few of the required cells, which must grow and divide in the laboratory until there are enough of them to conduct genetic tests.

The WHO strongly criticizes the use of the two studies described above to satisfy parental curiosity as an unacceptable practice.

Ultrasound is the best way to determine the sex of the baby. So, ultrasound examination, provided that the clinic has high-resolution equipment, gives good results in determining the sex of the child. Of course, it is impossible to distinguish gender before the 12th week of pregnancy: as we wrote above, at this moment the embryonic rudiments of the genital organs are the same in boys and girls. At 12-16 weeks of pregnancy, an experienced ultrasound specialist can already make an assumption about who the expectant mother is expecting. If 3D technology is used, the forecast will be more accurate. By 17-19 weeks of the interesting position, there are fewer and fewer secrets: provided that the position of the fetus is successful at the time of the ultrasound, its gender can be determined almost certainly. Parents can obtain the most reliable results regarding the gender of the child at 20-23 weeks of pregnancy.

There are modern DNA technologies that make it possible to determine the sex of a child already at 5-6 weeks of pregnancy, but they have not yet been introduced into widespread practice.

In one of the following articles, our portal will tell readers about fascinating “folk” ways of determining the sex of a baby by the shape of the abdomen, the age and “blood renewal” of the parents, the nature of the diet and even the pulse of the expectant mother.

Every second couple expecting a child has their own preferences regarding who should be born to them - a girl or a boy. The question of how long the sex of a child is determined during pregnancy is especially relevant for them.

When is the gender of the child determined?

Often interest in the gender of the unborn child is dictated by understandable curiosity, less often there are medical reasons for this. We are talking about the risk of transmission of the disease through the male or female line. In this case, a chorionic villus biopsy is performed at 7-10 weeks of pregnancy, but the procedure is not safe and can cause a miscarriage.

In the first weeks of formation, all embryos are endowed with female sexual characteristics. Only after 9 weeks does certainty begin. This is the time when the sex of the child is determined.

If an egg is fertilized by a sperm with a male Y chromosome, the embryo begins to develop certain organs and body parts that distinguish boys.

However, at this stage the signs are difficult to distinguish, and regardless of the doctor’s experience, it is possible to determine the sex of the embryo with only 50% accuracy. In the third month, the baby's gender is still developing. And this increases the chances of finding out the sex of the child with each new week.

So, it turns out that you can find out in what week the sex of the child is formed, but it is no longer possible to influence the sex of the baby after conception. Those who want to give birth to a son or give birth to a daughter should worry about this in advance.

The most popular methods today are methods of planning the sex of a baby based on the date of conception and following a special French diet.

1. In accordance with the first method, in order to give birth to a daughter, you need to have sexual intercourse no later than 2-3 days before ovulation. And in order to ultimately get a son, sex must occur either on the day of ovulation or the day before.
2. One of the basic principles of planning through diet. It is recommended to eat a large amount of foods that contain potassium and salt if parents want to give birth to a son, or magnesium and calcium if the couple wants to give birth to a girl.

In addition to the above methods, there are many different recommendations and more or less effective ways to “program” the baby’s gender. However, no matter which of these methods future parents prefer, they need to remember that no method promises a 100% guarantee, and it is better to prepare in advance for the fact that the baby’s gender may not coincide with their expectations.

The birth of a child is a miracle that every woman on the planet who has become a mother is familiar with. Any of them is waiting for this miracle and hopes that her baby will be the happiest, wisest, and most successful when he grows up. And all expectant mothers think about who they are carrying: a boy or a girl.

"Chicken or the egg"?

According to an ancient beautiful legend about love, androgynous people lived on Earth, and they were a perfect race, combining both male and female traits. Heavenly forces divided androgynes into men and women. For what, is no longer so significant, but the fact remains: to this day, the halves of androgynes are looking for each other. And a man and a woman who have found their soul mate in each other become that very ideal couple, a single whole. But humanity is doomed for centuries to have offspring that are divided into men and women, born as boys and girls.

What do geneticists say?

The legend is beautiful, but the scientific approach, genetics and its subsidiary branches say something completely different. Man is perfect the way he was created, and gender difference is not a punishment for sins, but a gift from above. To live and reproduce offspring similar to oneself is the purpose of all life on Earth.

Even from the school anatomy course, we know which sex cells are responsible for conception to take place, about when the gender of the child is formed in the womb, or more precisely, when it can already be recognized. And, it would seem, at first glance, everything is extremely clear: it depends on the man what gender the child will be, but perhaps everything is not so clear after all?

What gender of child do you want?

To answer the question: “When is the sex of a child determined?”, it is not enough to mention only that this happens at the moment of conception. There are no forces that would influence whether a boy or a girl will be born; if conception has already occurred, it is useless to try to change this and “interfere” in the process with the help of conspiracies, talismans, prayers, etc. And in what week the sex of the child is formed is actually no longer important, because the main thing is that the baby comes to a loving family.

Of course, before conception, you should at least try to do everything possible to ensure that the desired daughter or son appears in the family, but any obstetrician-gynecologist will tell you the simple truth: “As God willing.” They do not believe in any techniques or high-tech equipment.

Medical intervention in early pregnancy in choosing the sex of the child

Theoretically, the embryo development cycle presents the same visual pattern until 11-12 weeks - it is almost impossible to distinguish a future boy from a girl. There is a very expensive way to do this at very early stages of embryo growth. But here we are not talking about the traditional method of conception, but about in vitro fertilization, when eggs grown in the mother’s body and sperm formed in the father’s body are connected outside the mother’s body by microsurgical means. And then, when analyzing the amniotic fluid of the embryo (which, in general, breaks the protective membrane of the embryo, and there is a risk of harming it, although it is small), the sex of the child is determined and a suitable embryo is implanted into the mother’s womb. In some countries, this method is practiced, and in case of an error, the pregnancy is terminated, while in others such methods are prohibited by law due to the unethical and immoral nature of aborting innocent embryos that, due to an acceptable statistical medical error, did not become children.

The most accurate answer will be given by ultrasound examination

Ultrasound examination determines when the sex of the child is formed, and quite accurately, already at 12 weeks. Of course, it happens that the ultrasound specialist makes mistakes, but the doctor’s professionalism rarely fails. True, it is impossible to recognize the sex before the 11th week (due to physiological factors) and in the last stages of pregnancy (due to the fact that the fetus is already large and there is simply not enough space to choose the right angle). Therefore, if you still want to buy a dowry for your future baby in non-neutral colors, an ultrasound will help you make your choice.

How does conception occur?

Each cell of the maternal and paternal body contains 46 chromosomes in pairs (23 pairs). Autosomes, which are represented in 22 pairs, are responsible for the genetic set transmitted from parent to child. And only a single pair - heterosomes - actually determines the sex of the future person.

Female cells do not in any way influence the formation of sex in the embryo. Her sex chromosomes are the same, they are designated by the code XX, while the male sex chromosomes have two different chromosomes in the XY chromosome pair. By connecting, two cells form variants of compounds XX or XY, that is, literally this means that one of the female chromosomes X connects with one of the male chromosomes Y or X, and the sex of the unborn child is formed when the cells merge, that is, at the moment of conception. And nothing else.

At what week is the baby's gender determined?

Despite the fact that there are actually no sex differences in an embryo up to the 10th week (information on what period of time the child’s sex is formed physiologically is quite vague, there is data from the 10th week and up, this does not mean at all that the embryo is asexual before this time, and it can become both a boy and a girl.If at the moment of intercourse the egg and sperm successfully meet, in one day the two cells will become a single zygote, which will split in two at the end of the first day.

Traditional methods for determining the sex of an unborn baby

Since ancient times, women have been puzzled by what gender of child they are carrying. Sometimes this was caused by curiosity and the lifting of the secret veil over the main miracle - the miracle of creation. Sometimes this concerned the traditional attitude towards heirs - in countries that preach Islam, such an attitude has not been forgotten today. Therefore, at the time when the sex of the child is formed in the womb, women are already puzzled by its future.

They tried to find out the gender of future children before pregnancy (to predict it). Centuries-old practices of determining pregnancy include methods for determining the sex of an unborn baby based on a woman’s behavior, even identifying the fact of pregnancy during a period when the woman is still hiding it. They also relied on changes in her appearance, gait, pigmentation or increased swelling. Today you can often hear that a girl in the mother's womb makes the expectant mother less attractive than a boy. And this observation can be explained quite medically: after all, the girl needs the same hormones that serve her mother as a source of beauty.

It is often said that the sex of a child can be determined by the shape of the expectant mother's belly. If pregnancy is not noticeable from the back, a neat tummy does not stand out, then a boy is expected, and if roundness is visible from the back or the sides become distinguished by softer lines and a smooth transition from chest to hip, there will be a girl. But in practice this is not at all the case, and even the same woman can look completely different during pregnancy, bearing children of the same sex.

And those who know how to feel their children and mentally talk to them, trust their connection with the future baby and, when the sex of the child is formed in the womb, pay attention to how he is addressed - as a son or as a daughter.

Predictions and fortune telling about who to expect in the family

Various techniques and fortune telling before pregnancy promise accurate results. And although everyone knows when the sex of a child is formed, the mystery of the most mysterious event in life attracts like a magnet. The technique of a pendulum suspended over the palm is simple: if the needle (ring, pendant) rotates in a circle, a girl will be born in the family, if it swings back and forth, a boy will be born.

Experts in palmistry say that the number of future children can be determined by the lines on the side of the hand; numerologists use numbers and an alphabetical table to determine a couple’s future child, knowing the month of its conception. But you shouldn't take predictions seriously. As they say in a popular joke, the probability of a prediction being fulfilled when the sex of a child is formed is fifty percent: either it will come true or it will not.

Methods for conceiving a child of a certain gender

There are also methods that many people trust:

Various lunar calendars for counting;

Diets for conception;

The Budyansky method, based on data tables that predetermine a good time for a particular gender;

Blood method, based on the parity of the mother’s age at the time of conception;

The blood method is based on the principle that a man's blood is renewed every four years, and a woman's - every three years.

But in all of them there are errors and shortcomings (for example, twin situations or the birth of opposite-sex twins, triplets, etc. smash these theories to smithereens). The only theory that even somewhat stands up to criticism is the ovulation method.

The fact is that sperm live for several days, and the Y chromosome, which is more active and less “tenacious” in a pair, is responsible for fertilizing the boy, and the X chromosome, which, although slower, is more resilient, remains in the woman’s reproductive tract until three days. Therefore, if you want to conceive a boy, conceive directly during ovulation (it lasts about a day). And if you want to conceive a girl, you should abstain from sex at this time, and three days before ovulation is considered the right time.

Fertilization occurs as a result of the union of two cells - a male cell, or sperm, and a female egg. Both cell nuclei fuse and become the fertilized egg. Each of the cells that form the egg carries the characteristics of one of the parents. The carriers of these characteristics are chromosomes. The nucleus of every cell in the human body contains 46 chromosomes: 23 from the father and 23 from the mother. The chromosomes of the mother and father form a pair. Each person in any cell of the body has 23 pairs of chromosomes that are unique to him and determine his individual characteristics - traits of appearance, intelligence or character.

The sex of the child is the result of a random selection of chromosomes. First, let's pay attention to the appearance of chromosomes: their size and shape are different, but in every normal cell there are at least 44 chromosomes, each of which has one similar to itself. Grouped in twos, they form 22 pairs. They are classified by size: the largest pair has number 1, and the smallest - number 22. The 23rd pair stands apart: in a woman, it, like all the others, is formed by two similar chromosomes, designated by the letter X. And in a man, 23- The th pair contains only one X chromosome along with a smaller one, designated by the letter Y.

In the body of the parents, the egg or sperm are cells containing only half of the chromosomes, that is, 23 each. Thus, all eggs are of the same type: they all have an X chromosome. Spermatozoa are of two types: some of them have an X chromosome in the 23rd pair, others have a Y chromosome. If an egg by chance unites with a sperm carrying an X chromosome, the egg will develop into a girl; and if chance leads to fertilization of the egg by a sperm containing a Y chromosome, then the egg develops into a boy. Thus, sex determination occurs already during fertilization.

Theoretically, it would be possible to find out the sex of the child from this moment, if doctors had at their disposal technical means that would allow them to observe the egg without the risk of damaging it. Perhaps the day will come when chance will give way to science and parents will choose the sex of their unborn child themselves; in any case, this will happen only if the X- and Y-spermatozoa are separated in the sperm.

As soon as the egg is formed, it begins to divide into 2, 4, 8, 16, etc. cells. After several days, the cells functionally specialize: some for the formation of sensory organs, others for the intestines, others for the genital organs, etc. It is the Y chromosome that tells the sex cells that they will develop according to the male type. External signs of gender become noticeable by the beginning of the 4th month of pregnancy. But at the chromosomal level, which also determines its external manifestations, sex exists from the moment of fertilization. That is why, in some cases, it is possible to find out the sex of the child already at the beginning of pregnancy (2-3 months) thanks to chromosomal studies of embryonic cells. To do this, a so-called puncture is performed - taking placenta cells, amniotic fluid or fetal blood for analysis; It should be noted that this procedure is unsafe for maintaining pregnancy and can lead to the threat of termination. Therefore, it is carried out according to strict indications - often to exclude genetic pathology. A little later and with a lesser degree of certainty, the sex of the baby can be determined thanks to echography - a kind of radar that, using ultrasound, allows you to see the small penis or labia of the fetus in the mother's uterus.

When can you find out the gender of your baby?

So, how and when can you find out the gender of a child in the womb? First of all, this allows us to do analysis chorionic villi. Its essence lies in the fact that the doctor, either through the entrance to the uterus or using a needle inserted through the abdominal wall, takes a tiny piece of tissue from which the placenta will develop. By examining this tissue, he can determine the sex of the child, as well as obtain information about genetic defects and chromosomal abnormalities, which allows him to make a timely decision to terminate the pregnancy. The advantage of this method is that parents receive the answer to their question about the sex of the future baby in the earliest stages of pregnancy - at 8-10 weeks. But the disadvantage and danger is that such a study can cause the threat of miscarriage. Therefore, it is performed infrequently and only for medical reasons.

A safer and more commonly used method is ultrasound examination. To do this, the skin of the expectant mother's abdomen is lubricated with a special gel and a sensor is passed over it. The sensor emits and collects reflected ultrasonic waves, which are converted into an image on the screen. This procedure takes 15-20 minutes and allows you to see the position of the fetus and placenta, clarify the gestational age, ensure the correct development of the fetus and, if the gestational age is long enough, try to find out the sex of the child. The only disadvantage of this method is that information about the sex of the child in most cases can be obtained after the 20th week of pregnancy, and even then the percentage of diagnostic errors remains high. In addition, the child may turn around so that it is not possible to see his genitals. With good resolution of the ultrasound machine, the sex of the child can be determined at earlier stages of pregnancy - after approximately 12 weeks, but research in the second trimester of pregnancy is more reliable; It is at this time that most couples find out the expected sex of the fetus. Although some parents remain in the dark about the sex of the child until birth - either voluntarily or involuntarily, when ultrasound cannot definitively answer this question.

Technical capabilities of ultrasound

It is currently possible to find out the sex of a child, if his position allows it, using the most modern advances in medical technology. The operating principle of ultrasound is based on the reflection of an ultrasonic wave from the tissues of the body, the device capturing the reflected signal and obtaining on the screen a planar image of the organs through which the ultrasound passed - this is how two-dimensional ultrasound works.

Later, thanks to new computer technologies, a scanner with the possibility of three-dimensional reconstruction in real time appeared, and the intensity of the ultrasound wave remains the same, but there are much more diagnostic possibilities thanks to the three-dimensional volumetric image of the fetus. Three-dimensional ultrasound data provide additional information that is very important for diagnosing fetal malformations - limbs, spine, face.

Parents can receive a black and white printout of a two-dimensional ultrasound image as a souvenir; more modern devices allow you to receive a recording of ultrasound data in the form of a digital photo, as well as on a VHS tape, CD or DVD, which gives a three-dimensional image in motion. Therefore, for parents who want to start a children’s album from the stage of the child’s intrauterine life, it makes sense to inquire in advance what kind of equipment is equipped at the clinic or antenatal clinic where the research is supposed to be done.

Of course, any parents are interested in learning as soon as possible the secret that nature has hidden from them for the time being. But don’t forget that, by and large, it doesn’t matter who is born to you - a boy or a girl. After all, even if your guesses regarding the baby’s gender do not come true, you will still love him.