shape
carat
color
clarity

Ultrasound Clinics

blackberry16

Brilliant_Rock
Trade
Joined
May 26, 2009
Messages
980
Ok, my DH really wants to go to a local clinic that specializes in all types of ultrasounds and MRIs to find out the sex of our baby early. Our insurance won't cover one at the doctor's office until I am 20 weeks and he will be out of town until I am 22 weeks. Neither of us want to wait another 5 weeks to find out our our baby's gender.

I'm am not exactly sure what my objection is to this clinic except that it isn't my OB. The clinic is run by two doctors that I have checked out on the AMA website and the ultrasound is performed by a trained professional.

Have any of you (or people you know) found out the sex of your baby this way? Has anyone had bad experiences with something like this?
 

diamondseeker2006

Super_Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Jan 11, 2006
Messages
58,547
My daughter recently had hers done at her doctor's at 18 weeks.

If you are going to pay out of pocket, why don't you just have it done at your OB?
 

somethingshiny

Ideal_Rock
Joined
Jul 22, 2007
Messages
6,746
My sis and her friend both had it done at around 15-16 weeks and they were both correctly identified. However, a fairly significant issue was missed, so if you're doing it for gender only, go ahead. But, if you're doing it for peace of mine about the health of your baby, stick with your ob.

And don't stock up on pink or blue just cause the first US says one thing. ;))
 

taovandel

Brilliant_Rock
Joined
Mar 22, 2008
Messages
1,434
Somethingshiny: They aren't allowed to tell you if something is wrong with your baby---so it might not have been missed. I know most can't even tell you an estimated weight or anything you have to get that information from your actual doctor.

I've gone twice for my babies---later on in the pregnancy though. I liked it and it was cheaper then what out of pocket at the doctor would have cost.
 

blackberry16

Brilliant_Rock
Trade
Joined
May 26, 2009
Messages
980
diamondseeker2006|1310243599|2965608 said:
My daughter recently had hers done at her doctor's at 18 weeks.

If you are going to pay out of pocket, why don't you just have it done at your OB?

While I would rather have it done at my OB, the out of pocket is about $300 more than the clinic we are going to.
 

blackberry16

Brilliant_Rock
Trade
Joined
May 26, 2009
Messages
980
somethingshiny|1310251309|2965676 said:
My sis and her friend both had it done at around 15-16 weeks and they were both correctly identified. However, a fairly significant issue was missed, so if you're doing it for gender only, go ahead. But, if you're doing it for peace of mine about the health of your baby, stick with your ob.

And don't stock up on pink or blue just cause the first US says one thing. ;))

We are just going for fun. I have family coming into town this week and would love to share the news in person. We see my OB again in 4 weeks for another u/s where I assume she will identify any issues if there are any.
 

MonkeyPie

Ideal_Rock
Joined
Apr 23, 2008
Messages
6,059
If you can swing it, go ahead. But keep in mind that they wait until 20 weeks for a reason - the baby is big enough for the "big reveal" (and any potential problems) to be more clear. Anywhere under 20 weeks, it's a lot more likely for them to just be guessing, and be wrong about the gender.
 

nfowife

Brilliant_Rock
Joined
Mar 15, 2011
Messages
544
With my first I went to one of those places but it was more like 22-24 weeks because at my OB ultrasound at 19 weeks the tech was only "pretty sure" we were having a girl and I needed more than that. :tongue: It was fine, I just did the "gender check" package. With my other 2 I wasn't as anxious though definitely wanted to find out and when I had my u/s the tech was much more sure so I didn't feel the need to double check.
 

DivaDiamond007

Brilliant_Rock
Joined
Jun 7, 2007
Messages
1,828
MonkeyPie|1310327321|2966012 said:
If you can swing it, go ahead. But keep in mind that they wait until 20 weeks for a reason - the baby is big enough for the "big reveal" (and any potential problems) to be more clear. Anywhere under 20 weeks, it's a lot more likely for them to just be guessing, and be wrong about the gender.


This! My OB doesn't do the anatomy scan until 22+ weeks so he is sure the baby is sufficiently developed.
 

partgypsy

Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Nov 7, 2004
Messages
6,622
Ditto. What am I more curious about, what gender it is, or hearing from my doctor whether it is healthy and progressing normally? I'd rather wait and get the full ultrasound. Maybe it's "fun" but it also seems premature. There is a reason why many people wait to tell people news about the pregnancy in the first trimester. It's only a small chance, but then again it's not that much longer to wait.
 

noelwr

Brilliant_Rock
Joined
Mar 21, 2008
Messages
1,961
I did this and found out at 17 weeks as I didn't want to wait for the NT scan at 20 weeks. the lady had her own ultrasound business, but also worked at the hospital so she was recommended by the midwife.

for mine, I think I had to sign something to say I agreed for her to tell me if she also saw something wrong with the baby because she checked baby's health first and left the gender declaration til last. it was so fantastic to also have all of this on DVD, including the heartbeat, measurements, and she points at stuff with the mouse and explains what it is. I went back to the same place for the 4D DVD.

if it's by a trained professional, I would recommend it.
 

FrekeChild

Super_Ideal_Rock
Joined
Dec 14, 2007
Messages
19,456
I had my 20w ultrasound and then, because they couldn't make a gender determination (for sure), I went to an ultrasound clinic at 22w. I signed something saying it was ok that they didn't tell me if something was wrong (I'd just had the 20w ultrasound!) and I believe the paperwork said that if I was before the 20w mark, they wouldn't say for sure if it was a boy or a girl.
 
Be a part of the community Get 3 HCA Results
Top