A guide, not a shop
Fake ultrasounds, explained plainly
A fake ultrasound is a printed picture made to look like a pregnancy scan. People buy them for pregnancy announcements, gender reveals, April Fools' jokes, film sets and baby shower games. This site covers what they are, how to tell one from the real thing, and how to use one without hurting anybody.
Novelty item · Not a medical document
The short version
- A real scan is made by a sonographer in a clinic. A fake one is made by a designer, a template or an app. It has never been near a patient.
- Most fakes are copies of public sample images with new text on top: a name, a date, a clinic, a gestational age.
- They are fine as props and jokes, as long as the people who see them are let in on it, and soon.
- They are never fine as evidence. Showing one to a doctor, an employer, an insurer or a benefits office to get something is fraud in most places, and it can do real damage.
Start here
- Real or novelty?What's printed on a genuine scan, and the tells that give a novelty print away.
- How people use themAnnouncements, reveals, props, pranks. What works, and what tends to go wrong.
- What a scan shows, week by weekFrom a dark circle at 6 weeks to a profile at 20. Useful for picking a prop that fits the story.
- Ground rulesWho should never be shown a fake, and how to end a prank before it turns into a lie.
- Questions people askIs it legal? Can a doctor tell? Can I put my own name on it?
Why this site exists
Search for "fake ultrasound" and you mostly get shops. That's fine if you already know what you want. If you're still deciding whether it's a good idea, or you've been handed a scan and something feels off, a shop page won't help much. This one tries to.
We think novelty scans are mostly harmless fun. A surprise announcement at a family dinner, a gender reveal cake topper, a prop in a student film: nobody gets hurt. The trouble starts when a fake is used to make someone believe something for longer than a joke lasts, or to get time off, money, or a decision out of them. We'll say so plainly where it comes up.
Worried you might actually be pregnant? A novelty print can't tell you anything. A home test from a pharmacy, then a call to a doctor, clinic or midwife, can. In the US, Planned Parenthood and community health centers offer low-cost pregnancy testing.