Nature keeps us all guessing - Girl or Boy? - and rightfully so

There are various mysteries in mother nature that we can't unravel and most of them keep us at suspense till the last moment to keep us all surprised, to provide a WOW feeling. It is such a mystery of mother nature of not making it to known to even to the mother herself the gender of the baby she is bearing until it is born. This suspense makes pregnancy vibrant and colorful. 

Perhaps, human beings are the only ones in the whole of ecosystem who would be so keen on knowing the gender of the fetus, and it is possible with the advancement of medical diagnostic system like ultrasound scanning, where the sonographer can identify the gender of the unborn baby as early as 18 to 20 weeks.

Mother nature gives signs and symptoms to a woman whether she is conceived or not after having sexual intercourse with a man. But no inferences or signs are given to know the gender of the baby. If nature doesn't reveal it to the mother, in whom the baby grows up to 40 weeks, why would we try to identify it through various screening tests? 

It is in fact a sweet surprise that mother nature has kept this fact so secretive. Therefore, the mother of the baby can let her imagination flourish about the unborn baby, use pronouns belonging to both genders to refer to or talk to the baby, have fun choosing names suiting each gender and generally visualize the baby's looks and smiles, thus giving so much positive thinking happening in her.

Of course, there are traditional myths and old wives tales in our society to guess the gender of the fetus though none of them have been proven to be completely reliable. Some of the major myths are; if a woman is carrying high, in all possibility it's a girl and if carrying low it's a boy, or craving for salty foods means she is having a boy and craving for sweet foods indicate a girl is expected. There are even tips and suggestions flying around which would allegedly aid in conceiving a baby of a particular gender, like following a particular diet, using certain sexual positions or even having intercourse on particular days of the month.

In India, it is forbidden by law for any hospital or doctor to reveal the sex of the fetus, because of high number of female infanticide and of sex-selective abortion. It is largely because of poverty, the dowry system, financial liability, pregnancy in unmarried women, insecure social conditions, and lack of support services and proper education. Whereas in the Western countries, where infanticide based on the gender of the fetus is not such an issue, hosting a gender reveal party during which parents, friends and family find out the sex of a baby is a popular celebration. 

Mother nature does not let us choose the gender of our baby and this holds true across the different cultural, social, religious and financial backdrops. It is always wonderful to go through that feeling of excited uncertainty about what it may turn out to be and this suspense keeps us all going in our life.

This blog is written having been inspired by my sweet life partner, and dedicating it to her on her Birthday, August 01.

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