Aggregated News
A simple blood test that can determine a baby’s sex as early as seven weeks into pregnancy is highly accurate if used correctly, a finding that experts say is likely to lead to more widespread use by parents concerned about gender-linked diseases, those who are merely curious and people considering the more ethically controversial step of selecting the sex of their children.
The appeal of the test, which analyzes fetal DNA found in the mother’s blood, is that it can establish sex weeks earlier than other options, like ultrasound, and is noninvasive, unlike amniocentesis and other procedures that carry small risks of miscarriage. The finding came in a study published online Tuesday in The Journal of the American Medical Association.
The tests have been available to consumers in drugstore chains and online for a few years, but their use has been limited, partly because their accuracy was unclear. One company, which guaranteed 99.9 percent accuracy as early as five weeks into pregnancy, filed for bankruptcy after a lawsuit by scores of women whose tests showed the opposite sex...
The appeal of the test, which analyzes fetal DNA found in the mother’s blood, is that it can establish sex weeks earlier than other options, like ultrasound, and is noninvasive, unlike amniocentesis and other procedures that carry small risks of miscarriage. The finding came in a study published online Tuesday in The Journal of the American Medical Association.
The tests have been available to consumers in drugstore chains and online for a few years, but their use has been limited, partly because their accuracy was unclear. One company, which guaranteed 99.9 percent accuracy as early as five weeks into pregnancy, filed for bankruptcy after a lawsuit by scores of women whose tests showed the opposite sex...