Pregnancy & Gender Test Raises Ethical Questions

Tools

Pregnancy & Gender Test Raises Ethical Questions

By KSFY Staff

A California company has launched a new product that bundles a pregnancy test with an early dna gender collection kit. But now it's also posing ethical questions. Pink or blue, girl or boy, find out early: as early as seven weeks into the pregnancy. A company called Consumer Genetics is capitalizing on that desire with the development of a direct-to-consumer genetic testing product that reveals a baby's gender early. It's called the "pink or blue" test.

To avoid any possible contamination of male DNA giving an in-accurate result, this super-sensitive test requires no men be present while the pregnant woman pricks her finger to draw a blood sample for the lab card. Consumer genetics claims an accuracy of 95% or greater.

Dr. David Magnus, a Biomedical Ethicist at Stanford University, says accuracy rate is not his only concern. He believes consumer tests like these could lead to gender disappointment, upsetting a woman who isn't carrying the gender she desired. But he also fears it opens the door for gender selection, leading to abortions of the undesired child. Because the pink or blue test is classified as non-medical, it's not regulated by any federal medical guidelines, but you can bet ethicists will be watching.

View comments

The following comments do not necessarily represent the views of KSFY.com. Users have agreed to these terms and in doing so accept full responsibility for their comments. Moderation is limited.

Add a comment

Name:

Comment: 500 Characters Left

KSFY.com and its affiliated companies are not responsible for the content of comments posted or for anything arising out of use of the above comments or other interaction among the users. We reserve the right to screen, refuse to post, remove or edit user-generated content at any time and for any or no reason in our absolute and sole discretion without prior notice, although we have no duty to do so or to monitor any Public Forum.

I have read and agree to the terms

Hide comments

YouNews

This content requires the latest Adobe Flash Player and a browser with JavaScript enabled. Click here for a free download of the latest Adobe Flash Player.

On Demand

Stock Quotes

Flash Poll

Do you agree with the new recommendation that women should wait until they are 21 to get their first pap smear test?

  • Yes
  • No

AP Video