Knowing the gender of a baby before it’s born is often a personal decision for many couples. While some couples prefer not knowing and being surprised at the time of birth, others would like to know as soon as possible. Not knowing can sometimes create built up anxiety and having a gender test done could provide relief.
Blood tests that can spot genders after 7 weeks of pregnancy have become increasingly popular the past few years, and have been shown to be surprisingly accurate. Many have been able to get them from their doctors, or simply have bought them online.
Gender Test After 7 Weeks
The gender blood test has been available for several years. Many people in Europe can request it from their doctors, or simply buy it online. However, the blood test isn’t available from doctors within the United States. The test though is still available online for American customers. The testing method is known as “cell free fetal DNA.”
The blood test picks up traces of male chromosomes in the mother’s blood, and can indicate if the baby is a boy or not.
The test allows people to know their baby’s gender after only 7 weeks into pregnancy. In the United States, most people have to wait 18-22 weeks before discovering the gender through an ultrasound.
Non-Invasive and Protects Health
While many people would simply welcome being able to know their baby’s gender after 7 weeks, the testing is really aimed at finding genetic anomalies as soon as possible.
Certain disorders are gender linked, like hemophilia. Hemophilia often affects mainly boys. By knowing that a baby at-risk for hemophilia is a girl, doctors could avoid procedures like amniocentesis. The procedure takes the fluid that supports the fetus, and is tested. However, the invasive procedure also increases the risk for miscarriages.
Congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) is a disorder that can also affect the fetus. When CAH occurs, a female fetus begins developing masculine features and traits. To counter-act this, women take powerful steroids during pregnancy. If a mother can determine that their fetus is already a male, taking steroids for CAH could be avoided.
Accurate, But Ethical?
Tufts University did a study on the gender tests to see how accurate they are, due to popularity they have gained over the past couple years. They examined the results of 57 studies, which included over 6500 births.
They found that gender test at 7 weeks had a 98.8% accuracy rate when showing that a baby would be a boy. 94.8% was the accuracy rate for showing that a baby would be a girl.
While the blood gender test seems highly accurate, there are also ethical issues that it brings up.
Dr. Mary Rosser of Montefiore Center, New York, comments, “If parents are using it to determine gender and then terminate the pregnancy based on that, that could be a problem. Remember, gender is not a disease.”
Sources:
Gender Test During Pregnancy: Testing After 7 Weeks
Gender Test During Pregnancy: Avoiding Invasive Procedures
Gender Test During Pregnancy: Accurate