70% of women want to know the sex of the baby as early as possible in pregnancy. However, according to the law, gender could only be determined at an early stage on medical grounds. The rest of the pregnant women had to wait until the 20-week ultrasound. In 2005, the discovery was announced in America that you can determine the sex of a child from 9 weeks of pregnancy through the mother’s blood. Since then, various DNA tests have appeared on the market. They are also called the Early Gender Tests. With these tests it is possible to determine the gender from 6 weeks after fertilization. This is equivalent to 9 weeks of pregnancy, calculated from the first day of the last menstrual period.Heavy commotion arose when people in the Netherlands discovered that such tests were for sale on the internet and even worse, were also available at the Gender Clinic in Utrecht. The question was asked whether these tests should not be banned.
Legal or illegal?
Until now, gender tests were only carried out on medical grounds. There are hereditary diseases and conditions that are sex-linked. In such cases it may be desirable to know the gender as early as possible. The child’s parents then have the choice to keep the child or have it aborted. However, gender selection based on personal preference is frowned upon in this society. It is therefore prohibited by law to perform actions on sex cells and embryos based on personal gender preference. This can be found in Article 26 of the Embryo Act. But to the surprise of many, these tests have not yet been banned. This is because the Embryo Act talks about actions performed on sex cells and embryos. After all, the relevant sex tests work with the blood of the surrogate mother and therefore have no effect on the sex cells or the embryo, which are also already in gestation.
How do these tests work?
Research has shown that dead skin cells from the embryo are absorbed into the bloodstream of the surrogate mother. When these cells break down, the embryo’s DNA is released into the mother’s blood. If Y chromosomes appear in the surrogate mother’s blood, this means that the embryo is male. If there are no Y chromosomes, there is no boy present and the embryo is therefore female. If you want to know more about how this works, take a look at: Influencing the gender of your baby. In the case of multiple births, it is therefore only possible to find out whether there is at least 1 young child present.The test itself is performed using a small finger prick. You take 3 drops of blood with the gender test. This test must be returned and examined in a laboratory. The results will be announced at least 3 working days after the laboratory has received the test.