Know your child’s sex in six weeks

LONDON: A revolutionary sex determination tests which can tell the gender of foetus at only six week after impregnation is available everywhere in the world except India and China because of fears of a rise in female foeticide.

The new test is simple and can be done at home and is non-invasive. The Pink or Blue Early Test Kit can be ordered through the Internet by paying the fee from anywhere in the world — except India or China. “We are under strict instructions not to entertain any orders from either India or China,” a spokeswoman for DNA Testing Direct told DNA. Fears of abortions of girl foetuses have put India on their black list.

Within six working days of the specimens landing at DNA Testing Direct UK or USA office, the company promises to inform expectant mothers the sex of their unborn babies.

The company is so confident of its results that it has offered a money back guarantee if they get the sex wrong. Also for an extra £50 one can get the result in an express 4 days. The only time the test does not work is if the expectant mother has had a miscarriage in the last six-month’s, recently had a blood transfusion or has used IVF for impregnation.

The earliest couples in the UK were previously able to tell the gender of their baby was at the 20-week scan, just four weeks short of the legal limit for an abortion. However, due to high incidence of female foeticide among Indian couples, government hospitals in certain areas with large Indian populations are banned from giving out the gender of the unborn baby at all. Hospitals in North West London and Leicester which both have large Indian-origin populations are not allowed to tell parents the sex of their baby at any stage in the pregnancy.

Anti-abortion organisations are up in arms about the test calling it dangerous. “We are already at an alarming situation where hospitals will no longer disclose the gender of an unborn child,” said Julia Millington of Prolife Alliance.

“Foetal cells cross over into the mother’s bloodstream, hence, foetal DNA can be found in an expectant mother’s blood. A test on the mother’s blood can determine if there is an Y chromosome, which indicates that the foetus is male. There is a possibility that such a test can be conducted successfully within 6 weeks,” said Dr Nandita Palshetkar, gynaecologist and fertility expert of  Lilavati Hospital.

“We are aware of this as this research has been talked about for about a year. The scientists may perform research with the best of intentions, however, there are always people who will misuse them,” said Bobby Sista of Population First, an NGO fighting against gender discrimination.

With inputs from Deepa Suryanarayan