Pink Or Blue? False Or True?
MayorBob.
Posted to SciTech on Fri May 18, 2007 at 02:48:28 AM EST (promoted by port1080). RSS.
Okay, you just found out you're having a baby. The very next thing you want to do is find out whether it's a boy or a girl because you just can't start too early deciding what color to paint the nursery, right? Well, that's one of the main reasons being put forth by DNA Worldwide, the company marketing their Pink or Blue DNA test kits. At a cost of between (UK)£190 and £240 (dependent upon how fast you want your results mailed to you) the test does seem to be a bit expensive just so you can get an early jump on what color the baby's room is going to be. In addition to that consideration, there seems to be some some concern over whether the test actually works.
The test analyzes fetal DNA which leaks into the mother's bloodstream. DNA Worldwide touts >99 percent accuracy for the test and says it guarantees money back for any test which is not accurate. The medical community is not sold on DNA Worldwide's claims however. Dr. Patrick O'Brien, a spokesperson for the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, doesn't see how the test could possibly be accurate:"The earlier in pregnancy that you do these tests, the less fetal DNA there will be around, and possibly, the less accurate the test will be. At six weeks of pregnancy, it's questionable whether the technology is that good."
What's not in question is that if the mother waits 11 weeks they can obtain near 100 percent accurate results from an invasive anmiocentesis. Or, they could wait an additional 9 weeks for the same results with a non-invasive ultrasound. Because the test kit is marketed as "informational" it is not regulated by any medical body in the UK or the US, where it has been sold online since April. One doctor at the New York University School of Medicine suggests that nursery color motifs and buying appropriate baby clothes might be frivolous reasons for spending what amounts to between (US)$375 and $474 on this side of the pond.
That last is a point the ProLife Alliance in the UK would agree with. They believe the test might be abused by people for whom abortion would be an option dependent upon the sex of the fetus. Referring to "casual attitudes" towards early abortions in the UK, ProLife feels "it is inevitable that abortion numbers will rise." ProLife deplored the practice of social sex selection in countries like India and China, fearing that the Pink or Blue test might become used to ensure the proper ratio of boy to girl babies. Australian Health Minister Tony Abbott expressed concern that Australians might be able to purchase the test kit and promised an investigation. But, as some of the commentary points out, Abbott might have his own personal agenda in mind.
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