Prenatal sex discernment
Prenatal sex discernment is the
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 3⁄4 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:
- Disease testing: A complement to specific gene testing for X-linked diseases. In such cases, it may be much easier to exclude the possibility of disease in the child by prenatal sex discernment than to test for any specific sign of the disease itself. Common X-linked recessive disorders include Duchenne muscular dystrophy, fragile X syndrome and haemophilia.
- Preparation, for any sex-dependent aspects of parenting.
- IVF clinics in the US that offer PGD have provided it for sex selection for non-medical reasons. Nearly half of these clinics perform it only for "family balancing", which is where a couple with two or more children of one sex desire a child of the other, but half do not restrict sex selection to family balancing. In India, this practice has been used to select only male embryos although this practice is illegal.[4] Opinions on whether sex selection for non-medical reasons is ethically acceptable differ widely, as exemplified by the fact that the European Society of Human Reproduction and EmbryologyTask Force could not formulate a uniform recommendation.
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
- Gender reveal, a celebration party
- Female infanticide, a practice widespread throughout many cultures and times
- Gendercide
References
- PMID 21828326.
- ^ Roberts, Michelle (10 August 2011). "Baby gender blood tests 'accurate'". BBC News Online.
- ^ S2CID 37709826.
- ^ PNDT ACT NO. 57 OF 1994
- ^ "Pre-conception and Prenatal Diagnostic Techniques (Prohibition of Sex Selection) Act" (PDF). Retrieved 2010-11-27.
- ^ "Indian Health Ministry's FAQ page on the PNDT Act" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2010-11-27.
- ISSN 2319-8338. Retrieved 15 June 2021.
- ^ "禁止非医学需要的胎儿性别鉴定和选择性别人工终止妊娠的规定". Retrieved 2021-06-08.