When a child starts playing sports, parents will do everything imaginable to be a part of that child’s team.  Whether it’s organizing a booster club, volunteering at the concession stand, providing snacks, coaching, or simply cheering loudly from the stands, parents love to get actively involved.

Dads and pregnancy are often the same.  Aside from carrying out the actual birth, dads routinely like to get as close to the action as possible:  going to doctor appointments, prepping the baby’s new room, narrowing down baby names, shopping, and so on.  We’ve even met several guys, who like the mothers-to-be, will watch what foods they eat as a show of solidarity.

Alas, men love being team players and involvement, which makes this latest ad by IntelliGender all the more confusing.  Here it tries to take the fun of predicting a child’s birth away from expecting dads.

Why exclude them?

Men love predictions.  An entire month each year is dedicated to brackets and determining the outcome of basketball games.  Meteorologists take educated guesses at the weather daily.  Presidential elections are constantly forecast and polled.

Anytime a pregnancy is involved, that means incessant planning, waiting and predicting – and it’s exactly like the pregame!

If Fox Sports can precede a Super Bowl with six hours of nonstop banter trying to prophesy the winner and speculate on players who will make an impact, wouldn’t most guys want to turn a life-changing, baby-to-be moment into a fun pre-birth experience?

Doesn’t IntelliGender think that guys would want in on this action, rather than exclude them?

Just imagine the entertainment.  Want to wager on the child’s gender?  How about bracketizing your name choices?  What’s the over-under on its weight and height?

Think of the enjoyment that could be spread around, not just with dad-to-be, but with everyone.  IntelliGender’s own slogan is “Share the joy!,” but its marketing materials hardly want to divvy it around.

Let’s hope IntelliGender can start to include dads in its future messages, or odds are, another company will beat them to it.