Is it now possible to guess your baby’s gender without a test?

According to science, yes.

According to science, yes.

Some people want to know the sex of their baby as soon as possible, whilst others choose to be surprised in the delivery room.

For those who are dying to know what colour to paint their nursery and what big book of baby names to buy, it’s a pretty long wait, with most people finding out the sex of their future child at their 18 week scan.

For too long, impatient parents-to-be have been trying to work out their baby’s sex earlier, making assumptions based on everything from the shape of the bump to the time the baby was conceived.

In some recent news, however, it turns out there could actually be a much simpler way to accurately tell if you’re having a boy or a girl.

Researchers have revealed that women who gain less weight during pregnancy are more likely to have a girl, and those who gain more weight are more likely to have a boy.

Yes, it’s really that simple.

Researchers still aren’t really able to explain why this weight gain can predict gender but the research behind it sounds pretty legit. Published in PLOS ONE, it’s based on an observational study, looking at over 68 million births over 23 years.

So the good news is that we can start predicting our baby's genders, but the bad news is in order to do that we need to weigh ourselves more!

Jenny Proudfoot
Features Editor

Jenny Proudfoot is an award-winning journalist, specialising in lifestyle, culture, entertainment, international development and politics. She has worked at Marie Claire UK for seven years, rising from intern to Features Editor and is now the most published Marie Claire writer of all time. She was made a 30 under 30 award-winner last year and named a rising star in journalism by the Professional Publishers Association.