Baby showers have been popular in the UK for a decade or more. But will the bizarre new US trend of ‘gender reveal’ parties for expectant couples catch on in the same way?

YouTube is flooded with home videos of expectant American couples revealing the sex of their baby in front of throngs of over-excited friends and family - by cutting a cake.

So how does a Gender Reveal party work? At the routine 20-week scan (when babies in the womb are checked from head to toe with ultrasound) the couple ask the sonographer to determine the baby’s sex, but to keep it a secret from them.

Instead, the gender is written down and sealed in an envelope. The envelope is then passed to a baker or friend who makes a large celebration cake in either pink or blue sponge - depending on whether the couple are expecting a girl or a boy.

The cake is iced in a neutral colour, and friends and family are invited over to try to guess the sex of the baby. Guests are encouraged to arrive wearing the colour relating to the sex they think the baby is going to be.

The culmination of the party is the cutting of the Gender Reveal cake by the expectant couple. As the cake is cut - and the sex finally revealed by the colour of the sponge - cue congratulations from the throng.

Unfortunately, if you look past the mayhem of well-wishers, balloons and popping champagne corks on these videos, you can sometimes see the father-to-be is having to try his hardest to looked thrilled when he hears he’s having a girl. Then there’s the mum-to-be with the tight-lipped smile who’s just found out she’s having her third boy in a row.

Sometimes these things are probably best celebrated in private.?.?.

(Read by Lee Hannon. Lee Hannon is a journalist at the China Daily Website.)