Mom Told She’s Having Boy Shocked by Baby Girl—Then Has Tragic Realization

Two Washington parents couldn’t believe when a pregnancy blood test predicted a boy, but they had a baby girl instead.

Deena and Chris Lee posted footage of their gender reveal party on Instagram (@deenajlee). As Deena popped the balloon, blue confetti filled the air, while Chris sunk to his knees and cheered.

But when their daughter Abby was born months later, the couple were both shocked and puzzled.

“We couldn’t help but wonder how [the] blood test results [could] contradict what the ultrasound technician observed,” Deena told Newsweek.

The confusion began with a non-invasive prenatal blood test, often taken in the first trimester.

These tests screen for chromosomal abnormalities and can also determine fetal sex by detecting Y chromosomes in the mother’s blood.

Their test indicated a boy, and so they shared their joy with loved ones. But during an ultrasound later in the pregnancy, a technician noted features suggesting the baby was actually a girl—though the view was unclear.

“When the technician pointed out what appeared to be female genitalia, we started to question the accuracy of her assessment,” Deena said. “The ultrasound image itself wasn’t very clear, as our baby was positioned in a way that made it hard to get a definitive view.”

When Abby was born with female genitalia, Deena and Chris were overjoyed to meet their healthy daughter—but they still couldn’t shake the questions.

Deena considered everything, from the possibility of her baby carrying both male and female anatomical traits to a lab mix-up.

Doctors offered a few explanations. While blood-based gender tests are highly accurate, they are not flawless.

A rare but possible explanation was “vanishing twin syndrome”—when one twin, often undetected, miscarries early in pregnancy, leaving behind remnants of DNA that could still show up in the mother’s bloodstream.

However, the couple’s first ultrasound at around eight weeks showed only one fetus, making this theory difficult to confirm at the time.

It wasn’t until Deena’s second pregnancy—this time with fraternal twins, a boy and a girl—that the pieces finally clicked.

“Curious, I looked into my family history and discovered that twins actually run in our lineage,” she told Newsweek. “After sharing this with my doctor, they noted that the earlier gender confusion made more sense now. It was quite possible I had experienced vanishing twin syndrome early in the pregnancy, before it could be detected on an ultrasound.”

Following Abby’s birth, the couple ran additional tests to rule out any medical ambiguity. “[She] did in fact have female genitalia and the blood sample did come back as female,” Deena told Newsweek.

Dr. Olalekan Otulana, a general practitioner and physician at Cassiobury Court in the U.K., told Newsweek that non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT) or cell-free DNA tests analyze fragments of DNA from the placenta in the mother’s bloodstream.

If there was a vanishing male twin, his DNA might still be present at the time of testing, causing a false positive for male sex in a singleton female pregnancy.

“[Deena and Chris’s] experience is consistent with what is medically understood about this condition, and it’s plausible that the NIPT picked up y chromosome DNA from a vanishing male twin,” he said. “Their decision to conduct further testing on their daughter to confirm her anatomy and health was appropriate and reflects good clinical follow up.”

Her reel has since gone viral on Instagram, amassing 845,000 views. Deena told Newsweek she had been contacted by others who had experienced similiar or knew someone who had. “It’s clear that our story resonated with many,” she added.

In sharing the reel, Deena explained that she wanted people to know they’re not alone.

“Growing a baby can bring a swirl of emotions and worries, especially when you’re navigating it for the first time,” she said. That’s why it’s so valuable to use those appointments to ask every question on your mind.”