Review: SneakPeek Early Gender Reveal Test

With my first pregnancy I found out we were having a boy on Tuesday afternoon in between meetings at work and told my husband later that evening when I got home. It was pretty anti-climatic. We had elected for a test through our OB’s office that ran several genetic tests as well as predicted gender with almost certain accuracy. But the nurse who called with the results refused to give them to anyone but me and only over the phone. So no party with blue fireworks was possible (not that we had planned on that, we were saving for a baby after all).

I found out I was pregnant again just two weeks before the COVID-19 shutdowns began in the U.S. Not long after our quarantine began, my husband got sick. For 7+ days he suffered from a relentless and scary high fever and was further quarantined to our bedroom for 2 weeks. I delivered food, drink and medicine around the clock on a table outside the room. I was a nervous wreck over his health, keeping our toddler son and myself healthy while battling terrible early pregnancy nausea and exhaustion, holding down a full time job and a part time business. They were dark times, Harry. Dark times.

When he turned the corner and was healthy again (I’ll never forget that first family hug!), we felt the need to celebrate. What better celebration of life than finding out if we would be welcoming a baby boy or girl later this fall? Quarantine or not, a gender reveal we would have.

SneakPeek FTW

The test we did in 2016 was no longer an option for us (it became much more expensive for elective tests) but thanks to facebook algorithms, I had stumbled on Sneak Peek’s Early Gender DNA Test. I could find out my baby’s sex as early as 8 weeks pregnant! And being completely administered at home, it was a great option amidst a pandemic.

I bought the at-home kit for $79 on a Friday, and the small kit was at my door on Monday. I took the test and mailed off the sample by Wednesday, and we held our virtual gender reveal with a few family members that Sunday. Ironically, this was quicker than my husband’s COVID-19 test results! And I did the standard timeline. There’s a rushed version that gets it to you even faster.

Here's How the Test Works:

First, absolutely NO boys allowed near the test. They say to keep all males outside of the room. That’s because it’s looking for male chromosomes in your blood sample, and if they’re absent, it’s a girl. (I didn’t plan so well for that so while my husband was on a Zoom call I’m fiercely threatening my son not to take one step closer while I gently squeeze blood into a vial. So that’s probably something he’ll tell a therapist about one day.)

After thorough hand washing and alcohol swabbing, you prick your finger (I ended up needing to prick two) and fill about 10 drops of blood into a small vial. After the first few, it actually took much longer than I expected for the drops to accumulate on my finger. After filling the vial, there are specific instructions for packaging the test back up for mailing. The whole process took roughly 15-20 minutes.

You use the pre-paid envelope to send it back and after a few days they send an email with your results. The best part? You can have this email sent to someone else, and they’ll update you on the status of your test from time of sale, but will only send gender results to the “results email” you provide. We sent ours to my bestie and Baby Boldly co-founder, Natalie, who prepped our pink or blue potion for us. So have a good friend or family member on call who can keep a secret!

Fun Stuff: Accuracy & Privacy

The company claims a 99.1% accuracy rate, which I think is better than an ultrasound. My husband being the skeptic that he is still found reassurance in our ultrasound tech’s recent confirmation of our results.

My husband’s #1 concern was privacy (I’ll be honest, I never think of those things). But for his sake, I did look into it and we were both satisfied with their privacy commitments. From their site:

• SneakPeek tests only for baby's gender. No data is gathered about disease states or other health-related information.
• After the test is run, your DNA sample is disposed of by a professional chemical management company in compliance with federal standards.
• SneakPeek never shares your results with anyone other than the email address you provide.
• SneakPeek does not sell or share customer data with third parties. Your email address is only used to provide test updates and notify you of new SneakPeek products and specials.

A Gender Reveal that's Magical AF 

Thanks to SneakPeek - and my lifelong love for all things Harry Potter - at only 10 weeks pregnant we were able to bring a little magic and a lot of joy into our home at a time we needed it most. Please enjoy this, the most gloriously nerdy gender reveal you may ever see.  :-)