Have gender reveals become 'too extra'?

 From Amber Ray to Lynne Njehia, we look at some of the most pompous gender reveals.

Comedian Eric Omondi and his fiancé, Lynne Njehia, celebrated the gender reveal of their unborn baby with close family and friends last weekend.

The couple joyfully discovered that they are expecting a baby girl, and the gender reveal ceremony perfectly reflected their happiness.

The event was filled with intricate details and ample resources, evident from a striking pink waterfall that sparked both conversation and controversy. The star-studded guestlist was impeccably dressed, adding to the celebratory atmosphere.

As expected, the classic blue and pink colours adorned the occasion, with enthusiastic loved ones choosing either colour to indicate their predictions for the baby's gender.

Held at a beautiful Thika waterfall, the gathering was attended by famous social media personalities, including Amber Ray and her fiancé Kennedy Rapudo, as well as Eve Mungai and her boyfriend 'Director' Trevor.

For Eric and Lynne, the day was particularly special as they had faced a heartbreaking miscarriage late last year.

“It has taken me 41 years but finally God has blessed me with my own. The Fruit of my loins. I feel like Sarah of Abraham of the Bible, she waited all her life for a child of her own. Thank you, baby, for making me a father. And to God thank you for returning our baby to us,” Eric Omondi wrote in June as he announced the good news.

Dyeing a waterfall pink may have been an extravagant way to reveal their baby’s gender and it raised questions about pollution from a section of concerned fans online.

“Such a creative reveal and I just hope you considered the environmental impact on the solution used at the waterfall,” wrote one Instagram user going by the name Moses.

Another wrote: “This is outright damaging our rivers and organisms that live there.”

But the funny man didn’t let the comments about pollution slide, instead, he defended his and Lynne’s actions refuting claims that a toxic chemical was used to change the colour of the water. He argued that they had to obtain a license for the flashy reveal, and did not harm the environment in any way.

"Sio rangi, sio paint ya ukuta. Tulienda tukanunua pale Industrial Area zile samaki wanaweza kula ama wazirambe....lazima uchukue permission kutoka kwa watu wa maji. Huwezi kubali kufanya kitu kama hio lazima ukuwe na license," Eric told radio personality Ankali Ray on Tuesday.

"Sio kemikali, ni chakula ya samaki, tumechezea tu. Ni chakula ya samaki tumeweka food colour." he added.

Theirs wasn’t the first over-the-top gender reveal. Before Eric and Lynne, the couple’s friends, social media influencer Amber Ray and her beau Kennedy Rapudo had their own.

The couple held their extravagant gender reveal at a Nairobi hotel in March, and it was every bit shiny and glitzy.

From the mom-to-be being brought to the event in a helicopter, to her lover ‘raining’ thousand-shilling notes on her, no expense was spared.

"I say it’s ok to be extra. I say it’s ok to be extravagant, I say it’s ok to be with a man who knows what he wants in life for that becomes your way too," Amber Ray wrote on Instagram.

The couple also paid to have a billboard put up, announcing the gender reveal party ahead of the event.

“Wadau, Niko kwa billboard na siombi kura,"Amber captioned a photo of herself standing in front of the billboard bearing her picture and the words ‘is it a boy or girl?’

Insider Magazine reports on the origin of gender reveal parties, noting that the trend was started in 2008 by blogger and mom Jenna Karvunidis, who had fun announcing the birth of her daughter with a cake with pink icing on the inside.

“Gender reveals use different creative ways to surprise friends, family, and sometimes even the parents themselves with the assigned sex of their unborn child,” Insider reports.

“Oftentimes, doctors will give parents the assigned sex of their child in a sealed envelope that they can then give to a cake maker, balloon designer, or whoever is handling the logistics of their reveal to ensure it's filly a surprise.”

The report adds that some couples opt for the classic cutting into cake to reveal pink or blue icing, respectively symbolic of "boy" and "girl", while others opt for the confetti route, using piñatas and balloons filled with pink or blue confetti.

Insider notes that the more extravagant gender reveals get, the more innovative and daring parents-to-be get with their events.

Amber Ray’s grand entrance in a chopper was a point of contention as another socialite, Vera Sidika, had used one before on her own glamorous gender reveal.

Vera and her singer husband, Brown Mauzo were chauffeured to the destination, the Windsor Golf Hotel and Country Club, in a black limousine.

Their close friends and family were in attendance, and they all watched the flashy reveal, which featured a chopper releasing a blue cloud of smoke, indicating that the loved-up couple were expecting a boy.

Vera wrote on Instagram: “We having a boy! Damn. A dream come true. I finally have my boy. Our first gender reveal party was epic. This time, we wanted something unique and different so we went for a chopper reveal. Team blue whoop! Asia is daddy’s girl. We’ll finally have mommy’s boy. I’m so grateful to God for our growing family,” she wrote.

She later called out Amber Ray for the use of a chopper, and the two had a back-and-forth on Instagram about who copied who.

Daily Mail reports on what could so far be 'the most extravagant gender reveal ever', which was held by a Birmingham couple in October last year.

“A YouTuber has revealed how he gave his Lamborghini a bright blue makeover as part of his baby's lavish gender reveal party,” the report notes, adding, “The couple - who recently welcomed their son- pulled out all the stops for the gender reveal party at the luxury Belfy Hotel in Sutton.”