Fetus Gender Detecting Blood Test

MY9TV.COM - Medical advancements that allow couples to find out the gender of ther unborn baby sooner than ever.
Critics say this new test may raise uncomfortable questions about gender selection.
Sharon Crowley is live now in our newsroom with more.


Jillian Boyle and her husband did find out their two-month-old alexis grace would be a girl before she was born.
Now medical science is catching-up with mother nature even sooner.  Scientists say a blood test taken at just seven weeks can pretty accurately predict the sex of the baby.

Doctors say the gender detecting blood tests can be helpful in treating rare genetic problems that only happen to a boy or to a girl before the baby is born.  But the medical advancement also has a dark side.  It can raise ethical issues.

Dr. Todd Rosen is Director of Maternal Fetal Medicine at the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School.  He says some couples may use the information to end a perfectly healthy pregnancy just because they would rather have a boy or girl.

He says, "We have couples who come to us now who ask us to do sex determination so they can terminate their pregancy if they're carry a boy or girl.  They might want to keep one sex but not the other."

Most gender detecting blood tests are sold only online.  Dr. Rosen says if you are pregnant and considering this you really need to see your doctor first.  And keep in mind it is not 100% accurate.
In the newsroom Sharon Crowley The Ten O'Clock News.