/Woman who helped pioneer gender-reveal parties now says, Who cares what gender the baby is?

Woman who helped pioneer gender-reveal parties now says, Who cares what gender the baby is?

A woman who helped pioneer gender-reveal parties is now voicing second thoughts.

Jenna Karvunidis, 39, popularized the trend of hosting a party to reveal the gender of a baby 11 years ago with a cake that has either blue or pink frosting inside.

She blogged about her gender-reveal party for her first child, a daughter, in July 2008, and the idea went viral. “It just exploded into crazy after that,” she said.

But now after watching that daughter grow up to prefer wearing suits over dresses, Karvunidis said times have changed and she has “mixed feelings” about her contribution to the party trend.

“Who cares what gender the baby is?” she posted on Facebook on Thursday. “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.”

A posted family photo of Karvunidis, her husband and their three daughters shows the eldest girl in the center, dressed up in a powder blue suit.

The post was shared nearly 9,000 times and received more than 20,000 “likes” as of Saturday.

Many of the 1,000 comments on the post applauded Karvunidis for her shift in perspective and her sharing it publicly.

Jenna Karvunidis, who popularized the trend of hosting a party to reveal the gender of a baby, with her family.Launa Penza Photography

“We have to let our children be who they want to be,” commented Marielle Beaudry Delaney.

“Thank you for the courage to update the world. Bravo to your child for being their true, authentic self,” wrote Chuck Z. Crumpler.

In a subsequent post, Karvunidis said there are plenty of issues that parents will disagree about. Instead of shaming other parents for their decisions, “Let’s just pause and consider other viewpoints.”

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