You’re pregnant and it’s almost time for your ultrasound. Will you find out the sex of your baby? According to pregnancyinfo.net, recent surveys suggest that between 50 and 70 percent of expectant couples decide to find out the sex of their child before birth. That’s a high number that includes expectant parents in Middle Tennessee. What YOU should do is very personal. Here are some thoughts:

TO FIND OUT:

Practical reasons to find out the sex of the baby include painting the nursery, buying clothes, picking names and planning on borrowing items from friends and family. Then there’s the recent trend of hosting elaborate gender-reveal parties (where expectant parents publicize the sex of the baby by, for example, cutting into a cake with pink or blue layers inside) … and all the friends gathered around find out at the same time.

NOT TO FIND OUT:

Not finding out the gender of your baby is perhaps one of the last great mysteries on Earth. There was indeed a time when couples could NOT find out. Many women want to be surprised in the delivery room, avoiding the gendering of the child that finding out brings and preferring to name the child from a list of boy and girl names they’ve collected and have at-the-ready. Hearing the doctor say, “It’s a boy!” becomes one of the greatest joys in life.