The creator of the gender reveal party is ‘horrified’ at what parents are doing now

(NEXSTAR) – Eighteen years ago, Jenna Karvunidis was expecting her first baby. She got her friends and family together for a party, cut into a cake, revealing pink icing inside. The baby was a girl.

It’s a familiar concept now, but it was novel in 2008. Karvunidis posted about the party to her blog and the idea picked up steam. She was profiled in news articles and the idea spread from there. Today, she’s credited as the inventor of the “gender reveal” party, a public celebration in which expecting parents reveal if they’re having a baby with two X chromosomes or an X and a Y. Pink or blue, girl or boy.

Since Karvunidis’ party in 2008, the concept of a gender reveal has ballooned, morphing into something nearly unrecognizable. For one, her cake made from a Betty Crocker box mix looks pretty amateur compared to the elaborate designs you’d see on Instagram today. (To be fair, Instagram didn’t even exist when Karvunidis had her first gender reveal.)

People still use cakes, but they also pop giant balloons, explode confetti bombs, or paint each other’s bodies. Meanwhile, the concept has been haunting Karvunidis for years.

On an episode of “Jeopardy!” this month, contestants were given a clue about Karvunidis inventing the gender reveal. As host Ken Jennings read out the answer, he acknowledged that Karvunidis “later said the concept is limiting.”

Today, Karvunidis tells Nexstar her........

© The Hill