What is the Ramzi theory?
Coined by Saad Ramzi Ismail, who holds a PhD in public health and a master’s degree in ultrasound technology, the Ramzi theory determines a baby’s sex based on the location of the placenta and chorionic villi (the small sprouts in the newly forming placenta) at around 6-weeks-gestation.
How does the Ramzi theory work?
First, ask your sonogram technician or doctor which side your chorionic villi is on (you will notice it as the bright, thick area around the outside of the gestational sac). If your chorionic villi/placenta is on the left side of your uterus, you are having a girl; if it’s on the right side, you’re having a boy, according to the Ramzi theory. It is important to focus on where the placenta — not the fetus — is forming at this early stage, because the method isn’t viable once the placenta becomes fully functional at around 12-weeks-gestation.
Is the Ramzi theory accurate?
Although studies have been done, and there is anecdotal evidence showing that Ramzi’s theory correctly predicts the fetus’s gender in roughly 97 percent of cases, many experts remain skeptical.
According to Nigina Gurgova, a certified diagnostic medical monographer in Queens, New York, this method does not work. “I have been pregnant four times and every time I got pregnant I looked out for gender,” she says. “I don’t believe in the method.” Gurgova performs gender reveals at 14 weeks and believes that is when one can accurately determine gender, by looking between the legs of the fetus.
However, Adrienne Lara, MD, an obgyn in private practice in Oxnard, California, says there’s no harm in trying the theory. “I wouldn’t base a decision on it, but you’re probably going to be 50 percent right!”
Whether or not you give the Ramzi theory for gender prediction a try, it is important to keep in mind that it should be for fun only. You can always get the official word from your doctor later in your pregnancy. Until then, relax and enjoy your pregnancy!
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