Gender reveal parties have gone too far and they need to stop

OPINION

Celebrating the impending arrival of a new baby is one of the most joyful parts of parenthood, and a baby shower is a beautiful way to prepare for the big day, with practical gifts for the new bub and a fun afternoon with friends a few weeks before the baby arrives. But I'm still not convinced about gender reveal parties.

Have you seen the mega-scale eventing that goes into some of these bashes? It seems to have become a competitive sport between affluent families and friends. I'm all for a celebration, but these reveals are too indulgent, expensive and in some cases, mighty dangerous.

Just look at the video from last week of a light plane flying over an elaborate gender reveal party in Mexico, dispersing pink smoke to signify a baby girl is on the way. Sadly, the pilot crashed the aircraft and died. This comes after two deaths in the US caused by specially made gender-reveal devices, and the failed pyrotechnics that started California's deadly El Dorado wildfire.

Then there's the money people are throwing at these parties. Like the $220,000 a Dubai couple spent projecting "It's a boy!" onto the world's tallest tower. With the cost of living on the rise, the pragmatist in me is saying "Noooo, save for the house deposit!"

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Wouldn't it be nice if we scaled things back and left gender reveals where they belong: the birthing suite? I was a very fortunate new mumma to have two baby showers — hosted by different groups of friends — but not for one second did my then-partner and I contemplate a gender reveal. We were happy to find out on the day and let our loved ones know the baby's sex via text message and, believe it or not, phone calls.

Call me a great curmudgeon, but I think a "real" gender reveal should be a much more special, intimate and sacred moment, and one that can wait until the baby is born. Can't we leave some things as a huge surprise? There are some aspects of human nature that don't need to be announced on social media.

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