Should I get bloodwork done to find out the gender Y or N?

[asupersquirrel]

This isn’t my first baby but it is my last, I’ve waited until 18-21 weeks every time but would like to maybe do blood work to find out sooner. Should I do it? If you did it, what was your experience?

 

[asupersquirrel]

@crownfair Ooooo…. Thank you! Have not heard of that!

 

[crownfair]

@asupersquirrel They have one that’s called the snap now or something which my friend did. She said it was super easy. I did the finger lance one and it wasn’t enjoyable and I had a hard time getting enough blood out. You can also have it done in a lab setting if there’s one close by you.

Also, if your insurance won’t cover NIPT, you can call around to different companies and get a quote for non-insurance/out of pocket costs which sometimes can even be cheaper than the copay for your insurance. You don’t mention your age, but if you are over 35 most insurances cover it. (That damn “advanced maternal age” description!)

 

[carlnh]

@asupersquirrel You can find out at 7 weeks with the new Sneak Peek test (with my first daughter, I had to wait until 9 weeks). The new blood draw device is also quite literally painless (it uses micro needles and is so easy), and with expedited service you can find out in a couple days. I was also someone with no patience when it came to learning the gender.

 

[thinkthesethings]

@crownfair I used Sneak Peek twice and it was right both times! It's fairly cheap, too!

I recommend finding out early mainly for names haha. Plus, I'm impatient. My fiancé and I had two full names picked out- one for a boy and one for a girl. We found out the first time we were having a boy. Easy, name was prepared. The second time we found out we were having another boy. I panicked at first because we didn't have a name picked out, but I had 32 weeks to figure it out though so that calmed me down.

My mom said when she had her children, you didn't know until birth. She told me it sucked not knowing because they couldn't call the baby by a name throughout the pregnancy; they couldn't get anything specific for that baby (like a family member making a pink blanket for a girl with her name embroidered); and everything had to be gender-neutral until the baby arrived.

But to each their own. It's completely up to you and your partner what you want to do. Congratulations on your baby btw! xx

 

[a_nonny_mouse]

@asupersquirrel Check with your insurance unless you want a $1000 bill a few months from now! I got the bloodwork with my first, it was $200, no problem. With my 2nd I had switched to be on my husband’s plan and I didn’t think twice, just got the blood work. A few months later a bill comes for $1000+. Just be careful.

 

[asupersquirrel]

@a_nonny_mouse Omg… im gonna check tomorrow!!!

 

[jmg]

@asupersquirrel OP, just so you know my OB told me that my insurance wouldn’t cover it and that it’d be $$$$$$ out of pocket, unless I paid directly to testing firm. If I paid as a direct customer and didn’t claim against my insurance it was $99.

So that could be another Avenue if you’d like to pursue it. The $99 was also HSA eligible so I didn’t really pay anything out of my own pocket

 

[asupersquirrel]

@jmg Great information. I will ask at my next appointment. Would scream if I was able to pay $99 through my HSA!

 

[scarabaphile]

@a_nonny_mouse I was just thinking that! We opted out for that very reason.

 

[faithfinder06]

@asupersquirrel I did it, it was easy and accurate and I have no regrets! It was fun knowing so early.

 

[asupersquirrel]

@faithfinder06 Tysm

 

[katrina2017]

@asupersquirrel My insurance covered the genetic test because I was going to be 34 at the time of the birth. If yours will cover it, go for it. Another option is a private ultrasound place to find out early for cheaper than the cost of genetic tests.

 

[asupersquirrel]

@katrina2017 I am hoping my insurance will cover it but also know they probably won’t thank you!!

 

[lifethatwins]

@asupersquirrel If you will be a so called “geriatric” pregnancy - hate that term btw - then your insurance is more likely to cover it because of the testing for other genetic conditions.

 

[deapea]

@lifethatwins Also works for high risk pregnancy from the start (not related to pre-e or GD). You can also screen the genetics part and not find out the sex. We did that with #2 and found out with #1

 

[yannah]

@katrina2017 Same here. I was 36 when my youngest was born. They tested for all the most common trisomies,, plus found out gender. It was covered by insurance

 

[android17ak47]

@asupersquirrel I did NIPT and paid out of pocket. Got the results in like 3 days. The companies have pretty reasonable out-of-pocket deals, but you have to contact them directly. Finding out the gender was nice, but for us, it was more important to get genetic disease info (only the basic downs/trisomy 18 and 13 are accurate, don’t pay extra for the others and stress over false positives!), because in the event we choose to terminate, doing so at 10 weeks is vastly preferable for us over doing it at 20+ weeks.

 

[katie1987]

@asupersquirrel No. We didn’t find out. It is one of the few good surprises in life. We told our doc the names when pushing started. When my son was born she called out his name. It was beautiful and wouldn’t change a thing.

 

[tracieplaxton]

@asupersquirrel I needed fertility help to get pregnant so our insurance covered the genetic testing which also tells you gender even though I was only 29. They also covered it the second time because I was high risk on top of having back to back pregnancies at 30.