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So convinced were Lisa and Darrell Cross that their unborn baby was a little boy, they'd already picked out a name: Raymond, in honour of Mr Cross's father.
However, when Lisa delivered their baby eight weeks ago, they were in for a shock - their newborn was actually a little girl.
Determined not to abandon their plans to name the child after Mr Cross senior, Darrell got creative and named his new daughter Raydon: 'When a little girl came along we had to change our plans - I just sort of made the name up,' he said.
Their unusual choice was, however, to prove problematic: the baby ended up being registered as a boy – despite being dressed head to toe in pink when her parents took her to their local register office.
Raydon's mum, Lisa, 21, discovered the mistake a week after the birth certificate was issued. 'I just don't understand how this happened,' she said, 'When I took Raydon to the register office, she was dressed like a little girl. She was wearing pink dungarees, a pink top, and had a pink hat on. I even chatted to the registrar about her unusual name and stressed she was a girl, not a boy.'
Mr Cross claims the error has caused Raydon to miss out on vital inoculations for whooping cough and diphtheria after GPs refused to take her as a patient.
'Her health has been put at risk,' he said, adding their child benefit and tax credits have also been affected because of the mix up.
A Coventry Register Office spokesperson apologised to the family, saying: said: 'We have met with them and the mistake has been rectified and new certificates issued. The process of registering the birth of a child does give the opportunity on several occasions for the details to be checked by parents before certificates are signed. When mistakes like this do happen they have to be put right through the General Register Office, which can delay the process.'