Mum who 'invented' gender reveal parties has changed her stance on them

A blogger credited with popularising gender reveal parties says she has changed her mind about the trend, since discovering her own daughter doesn't subscribe to gender norms.

Gender reveal parties are all the rage today with parents-to-be utilising anything from a cake, to a lasagne (yes, really) and ‘Game of Thrones’ dragon eggs to reveal the sex of their unborn babies.

But ten years ago when Jenna Karvunidis from California and her husband threw one to announce the gender of their baby, it was a relatively new idea.

Since then the trend has literally blown up, but the mum-of-three now feels differently about it all mainly because of her 10-year-old daughter, Bianca, who likes to express herself in non-binary ways.

Taking to Facebook, the mum-of-three shared an image of her family alongside a touching post explaining how she became known in parenting blog circles as the person who kicked-off gender reveal cake parties.

In July 2008, Karvunidis baked a cake with pink icing inside to reveal the gender of her unborn daughter, not realising that the concept would catch on and become a custom celebrated by parents around the world.

“I've felt a lot of mixed feelings about my random contribution to the culture,” Karvunidis wrote.

“It just exploded into crazy after that. Literally - guns firing, forest fires, more emphasis on gender than has ever been necessary for a baby.”

And now the mum feels differently about the whole concept.

“Who cares what gender the baby is? I did at the time because we didn't live in 2019 and didn't know what we know now - that assigning focus on gender at birth leaves out so much of their potential and talents that have nothing to do with what's between their legs.”

Karvunidis went on to explain that part of the reason for her change of heart stems from her daughter’s decision to express herself however she chooses, no matter her gender.

“PLOT TWIST,” Karvunidis added.

“The world's first gender-reveal party baby is a girl who wears suits!”

READ MORE: Parent defends decision to raise one-year-old as gender neutral 'theyby'

Since sharing, the post has clocked up more than 31K likes, 12K shares and has been flooded with comments from people praising the mum for her new stance on the subject.

“Love, love, love! Thank you for the courage to update the world,” one user wrote.

“Bravo to your child for being their true, authentic self, and Bravo to you for finding the courage and love to support this.”

“Thank you for sharing this! Our young, m2f (male to female) daughter is growing up in a more accepting world because of parents like you that have a platform to share their journey to understanding,” another user commented.

Another added: “This is a fascinating twist to this story! Thank you for writing such an inspiring post about it Your family is beautiful.”

READ MORE: Wagamama will introduce gender-neutral toilets to restaurants

More parents are challenging the conforming restrictions of gender norms of late.

Back in 2017, musician Paloma Faith hit headlines after announcing she would be raising her baby as gender neutral.

She later opened up to Yahoo UK in an exclusive interview where she explained what this meant for her.

“The singer isn’t raising her child without telling them their gender; instead, she simply wants to ’empower’ her child by not giving them gendered toys or clothing.

“It’s wrong to constrain your child to a gender stereotype,” she explains. “A child just needs to be who they are and not labelled. My nephews always had a pushchair and a doll, growing up, and they’re kind boys with a lot of empathy.”