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According to the French Longitudinal Study since Childhood, led among others by the National Institute of Demographic Studies (INED), asking to know the sex of the unborn child has become a norm for nine pairs of parents out of ten. Who are the parents who are the exception and why?
The French Longitudinal Study since Childhood (Elf) is a work which aims to follow children from birth to adulthood in order to better understand how their environment affects, from the intrauterine period to adolescence , their development, their health and their socialization.
This year, scientists used this data to establish the percentage of parents requesting to know the sex of their child before birth. Some people do not want to know this information. Who are they ? Answer.
Nearly nine out of ten parents want to know
This analysis showed that 89% of mothers and 84% of fathers asked to know the sex of their unborn child. A behavior that can therefore be described as “generalized” but which nevertheless has some nuances.
So, “97% of mothers under the age of 25 (who represent 14% of mothers in a relationship) have asked the sex of their unborn child, compared to 92% of those aged 25-29 and 89% of those aged 30 or over”. The fact of expecting a child for the first time encourages more people to make this request: 92.5% ask for the sex of a first child compared to 90%, when it is not a first.
Also, the sex of the first children weighs in this choice: “when the parents of two children have only had boys or only girls, they ask more about the sex than when they already have mixed offspring” specifies the study.
Parents with degrees or practicing a religion are less concerned about knowing the sex of the baby
The other major trend that emerges from this study concerns the profile of the parents themselves. Scientists were thus able to establish that “the less educated the parents, the more likely they are to ask if they are expecting a girl or a boy“.
Another observation related to the qualification of the parents: “the most educated couples tend to display a relative distance from the numerous social injunctions to gender the preparations for welcoming an unborn child..
On the religious side, the practice also seems to have an impact because “mothers and, to a lesser extent, fathers who regularly practice a religion ask significantly less often than others to know the sex during pregnancy”. Finally, when medical monitoring of the pregnancy is closer, with more consultations or ultrasounds, couples are more likely to ask to know the sex of the child.
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