How to manage gender reveal disappointment if you had imagined a different baby

Online gender reveals can hide the quiet disappointment of parents who dreamt of having a baby of a different sex

Dr Bronagh Fitzpatrick: "Disappointment often comes from the gap between the child we imagined and the child we’re having." Picture: iStock.

Gender reveal videos on the internet have become part of bringing a child into the world. Parents shoot pink or blue confetti from a cannon or cut into a cake to reveal the gender, but some feel disappointed with the outcome.

“Disappointment often comes from the gap between the child we imagined and the child we’re having,” says Dr Bronagh Fitzpatrick, clinical and health psychologist (@theparentalpsychologist).