Boy or girl? Maternal psychological correlates of knowing fetal sex

Ultrasound provides a reliable, convenient way to determine fetal sex, but not all expectant mothers pursue this knowledge. We used logistic regression to investigate whether maternal personality, parenting perfectionism, and gender role beliefs were associated with knowing fetal sex in a recent sample of first-time expectant mothers. We also tested whether conscientiousness and extraversion moderated the association between gender role beliefs and knowing fetal sex. Mothers who were more open to experience were less likely to know fetal sex, whereas mothers high in parenting perfectionism were more likely to know fetal sex. Conscientious mothers who espoused more egalitarian gender role beliefs were less likely to know fetal sex.