Hi! I was going to post this in my last thread... but I thought this deserves a new thread, since its kind of about a different topic. A long time ago, I was told an interesting story, and thinking back on it, I think it deserves more thought. I just realized this right now. When my Mother was pregnant with me, she was told she was having a boy. The heart-rate, position in the stomach, and the ultrasound all came back that she was having a baby boy. Now my Dad, he did not want a son, he wanted a Daughter, and was a little disappointed. He openly said he did not want a son, and never will ( and lucky him, he had 3 girls ). Now I heard that the gender of the baby is decided by the father, am I right? Anyway, they had picked out a boy's name and everything for me since they were told they were having a boy, and prepared the nursery for a baby boy. Well, lets just say even the doctors were shocked when Mom gave birth to a girl ( luckily, they slightly modified the name to make it a girls name ) But that brings me to my next fact, can a baby's gender change in the womb? If all the tests came back that she was having a boy, and all of a sudden she got a girl, the gender of a baby both of them wanted, is that possible? In the end though, I ended up being the 'son' they never had. Is that possible? Was the doctors wrong, or did my parents influence my gender while I was developing? Its a curious thought actually. Is it possible for a babies gender to switch while in the womb? I luckily, don't know much about pregnancy or babies... and hopefully never will. If I ever have kids, I'll let my future gf go through the pregnancy, or happily adopt a little girl from China. Anyone out there that would know?
Not really the parenting type myself, either. For facts, though: I was in a similar situation. My parents thought that I was going to be a girl until the last minute. XD
Late into the pregnancy, the baby's brain is flooded with sex hormones to either masculinize or feminize the central nervous sytem. When a baby girl is flooded with high levels of testosterone it can cause a masculinization of the brain. This is theorized to be a major cause of gender identity disorder, where the child thinks that they are a boy trapped in a girl's body. However, I'm not sure how much it effects sexuality. At times, I think sexuality is more complex than gender.
I'm not sure at what stage external sex characteristics start to develop in the womb, but once they do, I don't think it's possible for them to change. It is, however, entirely possible for an ultrasound to be read incorrectly by a doctor. This is likely what happened in your case. As far as I know, all the business about heart rate and position in the womb being indicators of a baby's sex are mostly myths.
Hmm! Interesting facts Thank you! I mean, this was all 20 years ago as well, so technology has changed since then!
Biological sex, no, but gender, possibly. Exposure to hormones plays a role in shaping the brains (and by proxy, bodies) of fetuses in the womb. The interplay of hormones and biologically-determined sex is really interesting...wish I knew more about it. By the way, it's so interesting that your dad wanted a daughter so badly that he would say out loud that he didn't want a son. My dad once told me that he was very happy that I was a girl. One more thing: I am really thrilled to hear that you are considering adopting a Chinese orphan. So many Chinese baby girls (and even a few boys) are abandoned for a multitude of reasons, and it breaks my heart, because I'm a Chinese girl who was lucky to have parents who wanted me. No child should go unwanted.
This site talks about the development of physical sex in the womb (with specific emphasis on intersex development). It talks about how biological sex is determined and how a baby develops into female or male or somewhere in between. Thought it might interest people.
Thank you Aya McCabre! I'll check it out. And that is so awesome ChouChou! I was reading some National Geographics someone left in the staff room at work, and a lot of them had features articles about how baby girls in China are treated in some regions. It was so sad because everyone the author interviewed, after seeing a dead little girl, said 'It wasn't human anyway'. And then I saw a news article about a little 2 year old girl who was hit by 2 cars, and there were several people on the street who witnessed it, and no one stopped to help her. They showed footage of the girl dragging herself several feet as another car swirved to purposely hit her, and yet even still, no one reached out to help her. I also have some friends who migrated here from China and she has some dark stories to tell... Its so sad, and it made me decide that I want to save one of those babies, but I want to wait until I am in a relationship first. I don't even know where I'll live, because if I do meet someone who lives long distance, I don't mind moving to be with them. So one day, hopefully I'll meet a wonderful girl who also shares my dream of adopting a baby girl from China.
Thats interesting if anything. I can't add anything new to your question, so I won't repeat. But listening to everyone else about the hormones peaked my interest a lot. I know my mom was told she was having twins. There was 2 heartbeats for the first couple ultrasounds. The doctor said that though it wasn't definite, that it appeared one was a girl and one was a boy. But it went down to one heartbeat and they said it isn't that uncommon for one fetus to absorb or consume the other. I guess I ate the other one a little later then normal, but still. I've always wondered if it had any effect on me. I have always felt like more then one person, lol. My family jokingly says I ate the good one.
Kinda the same, At first they expected a girl but when they got another ultra sound it turned out he ran the test wrong XD
Seems they made that mistake a lot XD But its weird, since all the 'facts' pointed out to me being a boy, and then I come out a girl, who acts/looks/dresses like a boy, and is a lesbian. Guess they got that boy after all right?
well I read a article that a build-up of estrogen can make babies "change gender in the womb" I.e plastics and hormone rich food
I don't think gender changes that easily in the womb. Keep in mind, we're a lot better at predicting gender than we were twenty years ago.
