I never understand the connection everyone makes to opening Christmas presents early (which I have never done, nor been tempted to do
).
Opening a present early ruins not only the surprise for the individual, but also takes away the joy of the giver because you have essentially stolen their gift. A gift is not yours until it is given to you. Until then it still belongs to the giver. So opening a gift early is like the prodigal son expecting his inheritance before it is due him. An infant is yours already. It is your flesh and blood. It is still a surprise when you find out the gender prior to birth, and some people are surprised to discover that those images were all wrong. It also doesn't take anything away from the infant to find out what gender it is early. It is all just a matter of finding things out earlier or later. It's not any different than using a pregnancy test to verify pregnancy rather than just waiting until you have all the signs and symptoms of pregnancy, or taking any number of tests during the pregnancy to make sure things are going okay with the pregnancy, rather than waiting until birth to be surprised about it all.
Also, a Christmas gift is a material item that usually serves a temporary purpose and does not have a major impact on several areas of an individual's life. A baby is permanent and effects many areas of the individual's life. Finding out the gender can ease some stress, and allow the parents a few months to prepare in a number of ways.
Having a baby is exhausting! Women have all kinds of fluctuations in their hormone levels which causes them depression and stress, not to mention the sleep deprivation from waking every 2 hours to feed the baby. The last thing that I want to do after having a baby is to get things ready because I just discovered what gender it is (i.e. washing baby clothes that were stored away, decorating, etc.).
I am not knocking those who like to wait and find out at birth. That is their choice, and there is nothing wrong with it at all. Women are all different and maybe some have more energy for shopping and laundry after giving birth than I do.
We all have different preferences, and there is a lot of gender neutral patterns, clothing, and accessories out there for infants.