That latest nugget of intelligence may have slipped from the duchess' mouth as she chatted to Sandra Cook, a 67-year-old royal well-wisher Catherine met while on a trip to the town of Grimsby on Tuesday.

CNN: Does royal gender slip give palace the baby blues?

The Pardus-Abbadessas, the Fenskes and the other waiting families have an ardent well-wisher in Ann Bates, a 41-year-old pediatric transport nurse from Bernville, Pennsylvania, who was one of the nine members of the Kyrgyz 65 able to complete her adoption last summer.

WSJ: For 5 years, US families pursue Kyrgyz adoptions