Could determining the gender of a pregnant woman’s baby as early as seven weeks cause more harm than good? Researchers in the Netherlands have developed a blood test that detects two genes on the Y sex chromosome, allowing doctors to accurately determine gender about 94% of the time in a sample of just over two hundred women. The other 6% of results were not inaccurate, but inconclusive. While determining fetal sex early on could improve treatment for genetic disorders that are tied to gender, some worry that if the test becomes widely available, some couples may choose to terminate based on test results.
While such a speculation sounds outlandish at first glance, it wouldn’t be the first time in history such a heartless practice has taken place. And if you believe that life begins at conception, it’s happening right now in fertility centers around the country. Doctors are able to screen embryos for gender (as well as genetic defects) and only implant the embryos that are the gender the parents want. Remaining embryos are either “discarded” or frozen.
The medical benefit of screening for gender so early in the pregnancy will only impact those couples who are at risk for transmitting a genetic disorder to begin with. If a woman is known to carry the gene for a disorder that only affects males, for example, finding out that she is carrying a girl will prevent weeks or months of unnecessary treatment. It also decreases the number of invasive procedures that typically have been done in these cases. Perhaps if early gender screening is limited to those who are at risk for passing on gender-specific genetic disorders, the risk of this test being abused will be limited.
Sometimes technology can be both a blessing and a curse. Do you anticipate any problems that could come with gender screening so early in pregnancy? If you could find out what you were having two months early, would you?
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