We've all seen those celebrity gender reveal videos where the famous parents are thrilled to find out what they're having — like when boy moms Hilary Duff and Kate Hudson got positively giddy after learning they were expecting girls. But there are also Hollywood parents-to-be who have been on the opposite side of the spectrum and experienced … shall we say, gender disappointment over having a girl when they wanted a boy, or vice-versa. And honestly, we don't think any less of them for it, because many parents — Hollywood moms and dads or otherwise — have a secret (or maybe not-so-secret) desire to have a son or a daughter.
While the concept of "gender disappointment" can be a bit controversial (like so many other parenting topics), it's refreshing to hear our favorite celebs be honest about this very real phenomenon — whether they've shared their true feelings about their child's sex in an interview, spilled the tea on social media, or fessed up in front of reality TV cameras.
Honestly, we all know of an expectant mom or dad who wasn't doing backflips at the thought of having a fourth girl, or sixth boy. It's really not an uncommon thought, no matter how controversial confessing such a desire (or preference) might be.
Here are just some of the celebrity moms and dads who were openly disappointed about their baby's gender — and whose honesty has helped us realize that famous people sometimes really are just like us. (Shocking, right?)
Khloé Kardashian
Fans watched Khloé Kardashian's disappointment on Keeping Up With the Kardashians as she found out over the phone from her sister Kylie that her first child with Tristan Thompson would be a girl. "I don't feel like I'm having a girl," she said after discovering she was expecting a daughter. "I'm really hoping Kylie's gonna say she's lying and I'm really having a boy."
Luckily, daughter True is a total mama's girl now and Khloé recently welcomed the baby boy she's always wanted, so it all turned out OK.
Rob Kardashian
Speaking of the Kardashian clan, Khloé's brother Rob Kardashian also wanted a son. When he found out on spin-off Rob & Chyna that then-girlfriend Blac Chyna was carrying a girl, he was bummed that he wouldn't have a son to pass on the Kardashian name.
"Me wanting to have a boy, it definitely stems from my dad, but I'm sure I'll have the same relationship that I had with my father with my daughter," he said on the series premiere.
And it's true: Dream is the apple of her daddy's eye!
Britney Spears
Britney Spears was reportedly upset that her second child was a boy (she has Sean Preston and Jayden James with her ex-husband Kevin Federline), and admitted to wanting to have a daughter one day.
"I would really like to have another baby, a girl," the pop star told InStyle in 2013. "I think she would be a mini-me. I think it's going to be crazy. I'm not going to feel as alone in the world anymore. I'm going to feel like I have a second person, like, that's me."
Ashton Kutcher
Ashton Kutcher, whose first child with wife Mila Kunis is a daughter named Wyatt, selfishly wanted his second baby to be another girl — so he could convince his wife to have at least one more baby and try for a boy!
"I figured if we had a girl second, [Mila] might give me one more shot at having a boy, and now I don't know," he said during an appearance on Late Night With Seth Meyers. "It's even money. She might cut me off. I want, like, 12 of them."
Brian Austin Green
Brian Austin Green has five sons — including three with ex-wife Megan Fox — and he had no shame in expressing his desire for a girl in 2017 when he and the Transformers star were still together.
"I want a girl, I really want a girl," Brian confessed to the Hollywood Pipeline about potentially having another baby with Megan. "I'm worried that if I try, I'll just get another boy. I love my boys, but I'll have another boy, and I don't know if I'm ready for five."
Little did he know that, years later, he and girlfriend Sharna Burgess would end up having a fifth boy.
Nicole 'Snooki' Polizzi
Jersey Shore star Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi and her husband Jionni LaValle have two sons and one daughter, but Nicole once admitted she was upset to have a boy first. "I thought it was going to be a girl," the reality star mom told In Touch Weekly (via MTV). "I was hoping it would be, because all girls want girls."
Gwen Stefani
It's hard to picture Gwen Stefani being anything but a boy mom (she shares three sons, Kingston, Zuma, and Apollo, with ex-husband Gavin Rossdale), but the "Just a Girl" singer once confessed her strong wish to have a daughter.
"I mean, it does seem weird that I don't have a girl," a then-40-year-old Gwen told InStyle UK in 2010 after the birth of her second child. "But I feel like I'm running out of time."
Alexa PenaVega
Child-star-turned-Dancing-With-the-Stars-contestant Alexa PenaVega once confessed that she and her husband, Carlos PenaVega, were "crushed" when they found out they were having a boy.
"We were so convinced that we were having a girl that we picked out a name and called the baby that. Big mistake," she told Fit Pregnancy. "I'd focused on what I thought was a little girl in my tummy, and when the doctor told us it was a boy, I felt a little crushed, like she just disappeared."
Fortunately, since then, Alexa and Carlos welcomed a daughter and another son.
Melissa Joan Hart
Although Melissa Joan Hart has never outwardly said she was disappointed that she's a mom of three boys, she has made comments over the years about how much she really wished she'd had a daughter.
"[He] just would not calm down, he was such a wild man," Melissa told People about her eldest son's terrible twos stage. "And I would keep saying, 'Why can't I have a little girl who just sits and colors?'"
Mel B.
Spice Girl Mel B. is a proud mama of three daughters (Phoenix, Madison, and Angel), but she admitted after the birth of her third that she was hoping for a boy.
"I do want a boy," she told The Mirror. "It would be nice to have a son, but it wouldn't be straight away."
Rachel Zoe
We'll never forget that episode of Bravo's The Rachel Zoe Project when the famous Hollywood stylist told cameras how upset she was after learning she and husband Rodger Berman were expecting a son. "I found out I was having a boy, and I cried for a week. Or two. Maybe even three," Rachel Zoe admitted about her disappointment.
Rachel and Rodger now have two adorable boys, Skyler and Kaius.
Jenelle Evans
Right after Jenelle Evans, who already had a son named Jace, got a positive pregnancy result with her ex Nathan Griffith, the Teen Mom 2 star told him on the show, "I want a girl." They ended up having a son together named Kaiser, but Jenelle eventually got her daughter, Ensley, the third time around with her now-husband David Eason.
Danielle Lloyd
Danielle Lloyd, of Celebrity Big Brother UK fame, was bummed when she found out she'd be buying more blue. "There's nothing wrong with four boys, but I would've liked a girl," the reality star confessed. "I'll never say never to another baby. I think I would maybe consider doing the gender selection so I can pick the sex of the baby."
In 2022, Danielle finally got her girl!
Tanner Tolbert
Bachelor in Paradise dad Tanner Tolbert has been honest about his desire for a boy since he and his wife, Jade Roper, announced her pregnancy. "I want to at least have one [boy]," Tanner told People after their daughter Emerson's birth. "We joke and I tell [Jade] that she's going to have to keep on trying until we get that boy."
Since then, the couple has had two boys together and are now parents of three.
Tyler Baltierra
Tyler Baltierra and his Teen Mom OG wife, Catelynn Lowell, planned a gender reveal party for family and friends (and MTV cameras) when she was pregnant. And as the cameras showed, Tyler was visibly upset when the piñata spewed out pink confetti. "All my plans are just crumbling," he confessed, though he admitted he'd "get excited as time goes on."
Tyler and Catelynn have since welcomed two more daughters — guess he's destined to be a girl dad!
