Blood Test Tells Fetus’ Gender Even Earlier

A recent study shows a simple blood test can determine what sex a baby is as early as seven weeks. The noninvasive test analyzes fetal DNA found in the mother’s blood and can tell whether the fetus is male or female, weeks earlier than an ultrasound.  Amniocentesis and other procedures can carry small risks, such as miscarriage, however; this blood test does not.

Dr. Diana Bianchi, executive director of the Mother Infant Research Institute at Tufts Medical Center in Boston, supports the test because she feels its an important aspect of prenatal care.  However, she did mention the one potential worry of the test which is that women will abort the fetuses of an undesired sex.  Several companies don't even consider selling the tests in China or India where males are prized over females.

The study found the accuracy of the blood test was 95 percent correct at seven weeks and 99 percent at 20 weeks.

How do you feel about knowing the gender of your baby?  Would you want to know as early as possible or would you prefer it to be a surprise?  If you have had children already, did you find out the gender before the baby was born?  I'm curious -- I don't think I'd want to know, but I'm just old fashion.