Prenatal sex discernment

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Prenatal sex discernment is the

prenatal testing for discerning the sex of a fetus
before birth.

Methods

Prenatal sex discernment can be performed by

implantation
.

  • Cell-free fetal DNA testing, wherein a venipuncture is performed on the mother to analyze the small amount of fetal DNA that can be found within it. It provides the earliest post-implantation test. A meta-analysis published in 2011 found that such tests are reliable more than 98% of the time, as long as they are taken after the seventh week of pregnancy.[1][2]
  • Chorionic villus sampling (CVS) and amniocentesis are two rather invasive testing procedures. These may, in principle, be performed as early as the 8th and the 9th week of pregnancy. The difficulty of these tests and the risk of injury to the foetus, potentially resulting in miscarriage or congenital abnormalities (especially when done early during the pregnancy), make them quite rare during the first trimester. In the United States, CVS and amniocentesis are most commonly performed after the 11th and the 15th week of pregnancy.[citation needed]
  • gestational age), where it gives a result in 90% of cases – a result that is correct in approximately 34 of cases, according to a study from 2001.[3] Accuracy for males is approximately 50% and for females almost 100%. When performed later, after 70 days from fertilization (at week 13 of gestational age), it gives an accurate result in almost 100% of cases.[3]

Applications

Potential applications of prenatal sex discernment include:

Legal status

India

child sex ratio to go down at alarming rates, in India, which is also another factor that led to its banning.[6] However, the Supreme Court of India has accused the Government of India of poor implementation and enforcement of the act.[7] Over time, there has been a substitution effect of more families participating in pre-natal sex determination instead of the previously popular act of female foeticide
.

China

On May 1, 2016, sex determination and sex-selective abortion were prohibited. Doctors are forbidden by the state from revealing the sex of unborn babies in an effort to stop prospective parents from finding out the sex of their child and potentially abort or abandon babies.[8]

See also

References