Telling people one at a time

A pregnancy announcement usually goes out in rings: parents first, then brothers and sisters, then friends, then everyone else. A scratch card suits that, because each person gets their own moment with it. Write the message for the person — “You're going to be a Grandma!” lands differently from “We're having a baby!” — and send each of them their own link. Changing the message and sending again takes a few seconds; the link under the preview is always the card as it stands.

Making the card

1. Start from “Pregnancy”: a gold foil heart on a card with a moon, stars and clouds.
2. Change the hidden message to suit who it is for. Tap any of the ideas under the message box to use it.
3. Use the small line for the due date — “Arriving March 2027”.
4. Add your names, so it opens as “A surprise from Priya & Arun”.

Add the story in a note

The card itself holds one line. The longer note, which opens after the scratching, is where the rest goes: how long you have known, how you are feeling, when the scan is, who else has been told and who has not. It can be up to 600 characters and is signed with your name. It is also the place to ask people to keep it to themselves for now.

For grandparents who live far away

If you want to see their faces, start a video call first and send the link while you are on it. Ask them to open it and scratch. The card has sound — a soft brushing as they scratch and bells when it is revealed — which carries over a call.

If they read Hindi, Tamil, Malayalam, Arabic or another of the 36 languages more easily than English, set “Language they will read”: the buttons and hints on their screen change, and you can type the message itself in that language too.

Two things in one link

A link can hold up to five cards scratched in order. The first can say that a baby is coming and the second when — or, later on, the first the name and the second the date of the naming ceremony.