As seen all across social media, gender reveals are the new biggest trend. Gender reveal parties have grown in popularity in recent years to find out the gender of expecting parents’ unborn baby as crowds of their guests watch and film. These parties are tied to social media, and many can go viral and get a lot of attention. The first public gender reveal was posted on YouTube in 2008, and the trend began to take off in 2011 and continues to grow bigger in uploads and ideas. 

    Being pregnant now seems to become a fanfare, at least that’s what it seems like on social media. The pregnancy announcement pictures that follow with weekly baby bump updates, and to top it off, the biggest and most extreme gender reveal that follows. The full on party is centered around the big reveal using giant balloons, powder filled poppers or even setting off fireworks. 

    Gender reveals have a competitive element to them. The Huffington Report states, “Expectant parents in Louisiana incorporated a live alligator into the big surprise, and a Texas couple used a private plane. Another pair asked singer Brad Paisley to do the honors onstage in the middle of a concert, and one mom-to-be dyed her hair. And of course, there are the colorful reveals featuring smoke bombs, cars and even fire hoses.” 

    These gender reveals bring excitement and many people together, but some have gone too far. Many reveals have gone wrong ending in tears, injuries, accidents and even deaths. A women from Iowa died as expecting parents created a pipe bomb to reveal the gender of their baby. An article by The New York Times says, “Pamela Kreimeyer, 56, died instantly after she was struck in the head by a piece of metal from a device that was intended to reveal the sex of the baby…gunpowder was placed in the bottom of a homemade stand that was welded to a metal base….the stand exploded sending metal pieces flying…one of these metal pieces struck Ms. Kreimeyer in the head, causing instant death.”

    Another gender reveal gone wrong in Arizona caused a wildfire that burned 47,000 acres and caused more than $8 million in damage. CNN reported, “The expectant dad, 37, had packed the target with a highly explosive substance called Tannerite and shot it with a high-powered rifle, according to the US Attorney’s Office. The target was supposed to burst pink or blue to reveal to attendees whether Dickey and his wife were expecting a boy or a girl.” Though the fire was immediately reported and firefighters responded quickly, legal action was taken for the accident and the damage had already been done. 

The elaborate ideas that parents are coming up with to showcase their child’s gender could lead to serious disaster. A Texas gathering was planned to fly a plane across the sky loaded with 350 gallons of water dyed bright pink. According to GQ Magazine, “When the plane dumped its payload…he maneuver made it lose speed and “aerodynamically stall,” which is a phrase that no one inside of a plane ever wants to hear. The plane crashed into the ground and flipped over, with the two people inside receiving only minor injuries.” Though the accident did not seriously hurt anyone, it could have been a lot worse. A gender reveal party is a tradition, however people should stop pushing for extremes just for likes and shares on social networks. These get togethers should be fun, not risky, and it should be a time to celebrate new life, not a time for people to put themselves in situations that can lead to death.