<p>Earlier this week, a Dubai-based couple spent about Rs 70 lakh to light up the Burj Khalifa tower to announce the gender of their baby.</p>.<p>Such parties have been around for at least 10 years, but their popularity is higher now. They also take place in India, a country where pre-natal sex determination is illegal.</p>.<p>Metrolife found event planners in Bengaluru are more than willing to organise them. One says such parties are commonplace.</p>.<p>Popular bakeries are often asked to bake cakes with gender-reveal messages. Sreekala (name changed), an expectant mother, knows the sex of her child. “I was hoping to have a gender reveal event but it didn’t happen due to the pandemic,” she says.</p>.<p> According to Ameena (name changed), baby showers and photo announcements are not infrequent. “One party I went to asked attendees to write down their guess on a chit and drop it in a bowl, another designated two corners and asked us to go to one or the other. Then they revealed which group got it right,” she says. Most of the time it’s a sibling or close friend of the couple who reveals it, so it’s a surprise for the parents as well. “The couples usually don’t fit into the category of people who do sex selective abortions. Why would you announce to your friends and family that you’re having a baby girl and then abort her,” she says.</p>.<p>Most gender-reveal parties take place much after the legal period for abortion anyway.</p>.<p><strong><span class="bold">How they find out</span></strong></p>.<p>“I asked my doctor but she was reluctant to say it outright, she tried to hint at it. I was sure when the radiologist said ‘he’ by mistake. I pretended I didn’t hear it and moved on,” Sreekala explains.</p>.<p>Dr Prathima Reddy, senior obstetrician and gynaecologist, says patients know the law and she doesn’t get too many requests to reveal the gender. “If I do get a request, I shut it down immediately and entertain no further questions,” she says. Sreekala says that most expectant couples ask the radiologists rather than the doctors. Sometimes it happens during a scan.</p>.<p>Couples who ask doctors say they only want it so that shopping for the baby will be easier.</p>.<p>“It’s something that could cause us to lose our licence. And this applies to radiologists as well. They sign forms after every ultrasound scan stating that no sex determination was done,” says Dr Pratima. </p>.<p class="CrossHead"><strong>Legality </strong></p>.<p>Pre-natal sex determination was made illegal in 1994 under the Pre-Conception & Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques Act. The law was introduced to curb female foeticde and address the country’s skewed sex ratio. “It is a serious offence to reveal the gender and any medical professional and place of practice can be held liable and even shut down. A fine and jail term are also possible,” says Prajwal, a doctor who has turned lawyer. Advocate Geeta Menon says event managers, bakeries and even attendees of gender-reveal parties can be held liable under the law.</p>.<p class="CrossHead"><strong>The case against gender reveal </strong></p>.<p>LGBTQ activists have been vocal in their opposition to gender-reveal parties.</p>.<p>They say the activity further enforces the gender binary and delegitimises the existence of transgender and non-binary people. Jenna Karvunidis, credited with starting the trend, regrets creating a “monster”. Her revealed-to-be ‘daughter’ is now a gender non-conforming kid. </p>.<p class="CrossHead"><strong>What is a gender-reveal party?</strong></p>.<p>It is a party thrown to announce the gender of the child a couple is expecting. Most times it is a surprise for the parents as well. Usually the colour of a cake is used to reveal the gender: blue for a boy and pink for a girl. Some parties involve shooting a rifle at a colour-filled balloon and two adults in baby costumes, with pink and blue markings, fighting each other.</p>
<p>Earlier this week, a Dubai-based couple spent about Rs 70 lakh to light up the Burj Khalifa tower to announce the gender of their baby.</p>.<p>Such parties have been around for at least 10 years, but their popularity is higher now. They also take place in India, a country where pre-natal sex determination is illegal.</p>.<p>Metrolife found event planners in Bengaluru are more than willing to organise them. One says such parties are commonplace.</p>.<p>Popular bakeries are often asked to bake cakes with gender-reveal messages. Sreekala (name changed), an expectant mother, knows the sex of her child. “I was hoping to have a gender reveal event but it didn’t happen due to the pandemic,” she says.</p>.<p> According to Ameena (name changed), baby showers and photo announcements are not infrequent. “One party I went to asked attendees to write down their guess on a chit and drop it in a bowl, another designated two corners and asked us to go to one or the other. Then they revealed which group got it right,” she says. Most of the time it’s a sibling or close friend of the couple who reveals it, so it’s a surprise for the parents as well. “The couples usually don’t fit into the category of people who do sex selective abortions. Why would you announce to your friends and family that you’re having a baby girl and then abort her,” she says.</p>.<p>Most gender-reveal parties take place much after the legal period for abortion anyway.</p>.<p><strong><span class="bold">How they find out</span></strong></p>.<p>“I asked my doctor but she was reluctant to say it outright, she tried to hint at it. I was sure when the radiologist said ‘he’ by mistake. I pretended I didn’t hear it and moved on,” Sreekala explains.</p>.<p>Dr Prathima Reddy, senior obstetrician and gynaecologist, says patients know the law and she doesn’t get too many requests to reveal the gender. “If I do get a request, I shut it down immediately and entertain no further questions,” she says. Sreekala says that most expectant couples ask the radiologists rather than the doctors. Sometimes it happens during a scan.</p>.<p>Couples who ask doctors say they only want it so that shopping for the baby will be easier.</p>.<p>“It’s something that could cause us to lose our licence. And this applies to radiologists as well. They sign forms after every ultrasound scan stating that no sex determination was done,” says Dr Pratima. </p>.<p class="CrossHead"><strong>Legality </strong></p>.<p>Pre-natal sex determination was made illegal in 1994 under the Pre-Conception & Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques Act. The law was introduced to curb female foeticde and address the country’s skewed sex ratio. “It is a serious offence to reveal the gender and any medical professional and place of practice can be held liable and even shut down. A fine and jail term are also possible,” says Prajwal, a doctor who has turned lawyer. Advocate Geeta Menon says event managers, bakeries and even attendees of gender-reveal parties can be held liable under the law.</p>.<p class="CrossHead"><strong>The case against gender reveal </strong></p>.<p>LGBTQ activists have been vocal in their opposition to gender-reveal parties.</p>.<p>They say the activity further enforces the gender binary and delegitimises the existence of transgender and non-binary people. Jenna Karvunidis, credited with starting the trend, regrets creating a “monster”. Her revealed-to-be ‘daughter’ is now a gender non-conforming kid. </p>.<p class="CrossHead"><strong>What is a gender-reveal party?</strong></p>.<p>It is a party thrown to announce the gender of the child a couple is expecting. Most times it is a surprise for the parents as well. Usually the colour of a cake is used to reveal the gender: blue for a boy and pink for a girl. Some parties involve shooting a rifle at a colour-filled balloon and two adults in baby costumes, with pink and blue markings, fighting each other.</p>
