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A New Gender Test Kit
February 2, 2009 at 12:33 PM by Cafe Melisa - Comments (21)
I just read about a test I've never heard of before. The Pink or Blue Early Gender Test (about $240) is now available online in the U.S. The test claims to be able to determine the gender of a fetus from as early as seven weeks after conception with a drop of the mother's blood sent off to a lab. Now, I wanted to know the sex of my babies, but this kind of freaks me out.
In the article I read about the test, a marketing exec for the company that manufactures it says it's popular among "young moms-to-be who are really excited to find out the sex." But the piece also suggests that parents could use the early info to gender select. And in fact the test comes with a consent form which includes (an unenforceable) clause forbidding the use of the test for gender selection.
The test claims to be 95% accurate, but Dr. Eva Pressman, Director of Obstetrics and Internal Fetal Medicine at the University of Rochester, says "the DNA technology being used has many potential pitfalls" and she suspects the accuracy could be less.
Most importantly, she says, "in the absence of a family history of significant genetic disorders, there's no need to know fetal gender this early, and an ultrasound can usually identify gender by 18 - 20 weeks."
What do you think? Would you consider using a gender test kit to learn the sex early?
FILED UNDER: boy or girl
Comments:
if we get pregnant again...we will be happy with a boy or a girl.....
$240, or a few months of patience.... gee that's a tough choice.
I'm with the PP, the gender selection thing is scary. Especially if you consider the failure rate. It may be more than 5%, so think about it. You would kill your little 'boy' if they tell you it's a boy because you want a precious little girl so badly.... and in reality, you could've been killing your precious girl all along. It's kinda sick no matter how you look at it.
Me, I'm patient enough to wait until the birth, so waiting halfway through the pregnancy to find out seams simple enough for me!
I think those tests are a crock.
If I had extra money and was pregnant again, I would use the test. However, I would NEVER use a test like this for gender selection. But I'm antsy when it comes to finding out the gender and if I could possibly find out early on and had the cash to throw around, why not? But as the other posters have said, this test isn't completely accurate, so it would have to be just for fun.
THE EPT WAS GOOD ENOUGH FOR ME. JUST A SIMPLE TEST THAT SAYS PLUS OR MINUS YES OR NO PREGNANT OR NOT PREGNANT BUT A TEST THAT SAYS BOY OR GIRL IS JUST TOO MUCH FOR ME I WOULD MUCH RATHER WAIT FOR THE ULTRSOUND THE ANTICIPATION IS MUCH MORE EXCITING ANYWAY
It shouldn't matter if the baby is a boy or girl the most important thing is his or her health
If I had all kinds of money to spend, yeah why not find out what I'm having early on instead of waiting for the 20 week ultrasound?
Eh, I would definitely pass even if I was the richest person alive. I mean 18 - 20 weeks isn't that long anyway and gender selection is ridiculous in my opinion. Besides I think the building anticipation makes the u/s or birth that much more exciting!
I don't like it, I wouldn't use it, but its not my choice to make for others
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The whole gender selection thing scares me to death.
Jynx1978 Feb. 2, 2009 at 1:18 PM