A new simple blood test that can determine a baby’s sex as early as seven weeks into pregnancy is 95% accurate if used correctly.
The test could conceivably help parents who are worried about gender-related diseases, but it could also allow people to know early on whether they are having a boy or a girl and possibly select the sex of their baby.
These types of tests are not new however those that have been available to consumers for a few years, have not had such a high accuracy rate.
The finding came in a study published online Tuesday in The Journal of the American Medical Association.
The test analyzes fetal DNA found in the mother’s blood and can establish the sex of the fetus weeks earlier than other options, like ultrasound. The blood test is noninvasive, unlike amniocentesis and other procedures that carry small risks of miscarriage.
In Europe, doctors are utilizing sex-determination tests to help expectant parents determine whether their offspring are at risk for rare gender-linked disorders before performing invasive and costly genetic testing.
This is a new frontier of DNA testing that can be used to determine paternity and blood type, as well as assisting in developing early screening tests for genetic diseases like Down syndrome.
The potential worry is that women might abort fetuses of an undesired sex. We wouldn’t want this technology to be used as a method of gender selection.
Are we entering into dangerous territory with these new tests?
