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Blood Test Shows Gender at 5 Weeks

Posted on: Saturday, 8 October 2005, 09:00 CDT

By Maggie Haberman

Forget about sonograms and amniocentesis tests -- a new take- home kit allows expectant moms to find out their baby's gender as early as five weeks into their pregnancy.

"People just want to plan ahead, and this allows them to plan ahead even further," said Sherry Bonelli, president of pregnancystore.com, the online outlet selling the Baby Gender Mentor.

Parents who buy the $25 kit get a tool to prick their fingers for a small blood sample that is sent to a lab in Massachusetts.

For $250 in lab fees, the results come within 48 hours.

The lab techs identify the baby's DNA in the mother's blood. If there's a Y chromosome found, parents can start buying blue onesies; if there isn't, it's pink wallpaper for the nursery.

Bonelli said she has sold thousands of kits since they became available in June. Some couples want to prepare siblings for the arrival of a baby; one engaged couple wanted to coordinate their wedding favors with their unborn child's sex, she added.

But some bioethicists fear that since the test is taken while the embryo is so unformed, some people will use it to end early pregnancies if they don't get the boy or girl they were hoping for.

"I think ethicists have expressed concerns," said Arthur Caplan, head of medical ethics at the University of Pennsylvania. But he also doesn't think the test will catch on, noting that ultrasounds give the same information about 12 weeks later.

He also noted the United States isn't as gender-obsessed as, say, India or China.

Celia Fisher, head of the Fordham University Center for Ethics Education, agreed that it's "highly unlikely that the majority of individuals" who buy the test will use it for after-the-fact gender engineering.

Dr. Ronald Wapner, head of maternal fetal medicine at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center, acknowledged that it's "a possibility" that some people will use the test for "family balancing."

"There's no way to prevent that from happening," he said. But he added, "In my experience, very few people have used information for that purpose."

Bonelli agreed, saying the issue is "blown out of proportion. ... The same type of issues came out when amniocentesis was available."

Source: Buffalo News

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