Doorbell Cam Captures Moment Man Accidentally Ruins Baby Gender Reveal

An expectant dad was left with some explaining to do after accidentally revealing the gender of their unborn child to his pregnant wife. America remains firmly divided on the topic of gender reveal parties. A YouGov survey of 1,000 U.S. adults from 2018 found that while 25 percent of respondents consider it to be a "fun" idea, some 35 percent felt gender reveal parties were "unnecessary." Read more: Compare the Arlo Pro and Other Top Wireless Home Security Cameras Expectant parents Simon and Bronagh Laverty from Craigavon in Northern Ireland, U.K., were certainly in favor of the idea. However, their plans for a gender reveal, which would have seen the couple pop a balloon revealing either blue confetti for a boy or pink for a girl, didn't go exactly to plan. In a video captured on a Ring doorbell camera and subsequently shared with Newsweek, the father-to-be is seen walking out of the home with a gender reveal balloon. Yet, in an instant, disaster strikes as the balloon suddenly bursts into a cloud of blue confetti. Simon told the Amazon-owned home security company that his initial concern was that he would know the gender before his wife did. What he didn't realize at the time, though, was that she was watching what happened in real-time on the doorbell camera. Having received a notification thanks to the camera's built-in motion detector, Bronagh opened her phone only to see the puff of blue confetti. She immediately called Simon asking: "What just happened?! Have we literally just found out what we're having?"

Simon told Ring he went through a lot of different emotions during the call but was mostly just relieved and happy to hear she had seen the reveal when he did. Read more: Compare Affordable Home Security Cameras Despite the setback, Simon and Bronagh were determined to ensure those attending their gender reveal party still enjoyed the surprise for themselves. "To be honest we had to play along with the whole thing and make sure no one else knew that we found out before the new balloon had popped, as we didn't want to ruin the surprise for everyone else," he said. After the mishap, he rushed into town to get a new balloon before heading to the party. It was only later that the happy couple revealed to their friends and family what had happened and shared the hilarious footage with them. Three years on from the incident, it's something they regularly revisit. "We look back at the video all the time, it gives us a laugh about what happened and how we found out," he said. "Catching it on camera was even more special than doing it in front of friends and family as we can keep and cherish it." Their son, Theo, is due to turn three in November and his parents are looking forward to the day when they can show him the footage. "It will be good for the wee man when he's older to show him and say, 'This is how we found out what you were going to be!'" Simon told Ring.