Parents criticized for ‘worst gender reveal ever’

A couple has been criticized online for creating a “very strange” gender reveal with their two daughters.

Lauren and Christopher, parents of two daughters in the US, were keen to find out what sex their third child would be.

So when it came to the gender reveal, they knew their celebration had to be special.

Unfortunately, not everyone was impressed with their stunt, with some labeling it “weird” and “the worst gender reveal ever”.

Parents throw paint on girls as part of gender reveal

Dressed head-to-toe in white, Lauren and Christopher stood in front of a stunning backdrop of the American West.

Their two daughters, Kennedy, 10, and McKenna, four, were standing between them on a large white tarp, holding a clear umbrella over their heads.

“I’m so excited,” said one of the girls on the now-viral TikTok.

The parents held a bucket and stood over their daughters, who were looking down in preparation for what was to come.

Then came the actual gender reveal: pouring paint over the two children.

If the paint is pink, they would have a girl, and if it is blue, they would have a boy.

The big moment was finally happening, with Lauren and Christopher dumping the contents of the buckets on their two children.

And the color? Pink! Maybe? Or was it red?

Speaking to a fan after the video went viral, Lauren confirmed that the color was “purple pink”, not red as many had assumed, and it looked exactly as she had hoped.

Later, she further explained why she chose to include her children in the gender reveal.

“Girls love to create paint art; it’s their favorite thing,” she said. “So we wanted to include that in the reveal to make them feel a part [of it]and took super cool photos.”

“Which gender is red?”

While the family was thrilled to have another baby girl in the family, others online were a little less thrilled by the whole gender reveal.

Online, people really couldn’t tell the two apart, with some arguing that it didn’t look like hot pink paint at all and was, in fact, blood red. Yes.

“I really don’t understand this. Why red paint?” someone asked. “This looks like a murder scene,” wrote another.

“The color looks a little too close to blood,” added a third. “It’s giving off a ‘Carrie’ vibe,” said one fan of the movie.

“I’m sitting here trying to work out which gender is red?” asked a confused person.

Some believed that the “red” ink (which was actually “magenta pink”) had a darker meaning than meets the eye.

“Red ink to symbolize dad’s broken heart, it’s not a boy,” someone hypothesized (which is a little cruel, honestly). “Such a terrible choice for a reveal,” wrote a second person.

But fans cut through the noise, congratulating the couple on being welcomed into their family and praising their “unique” gender reveal.

“I think this is sweet and anyone who thinks paint is red should have their eyes checked,” read one comment. “I think people need to understand that cameras also pick up different color tones so they look pinker in person,” added another.

“That was a nice gender reveal,” said a third. “And it was completely clear what was going on.”