New Home Test for Sex of an Embryo at Six Weeks Raises Concerns

A new home-based test for expectant mothers allows them to learn the sex of their embryo as early as at six weeks of pregnancy, claims the British manufacturer, DNA Worldwide. This will likely lead to an increase in sex selection, according to the Center for Genetics and Society, a public interest group.

"Sex selection encourages parents to view children as commodities that are created and tailored to their standards," said Marcy Darnovsky, associate executive director of the Center. "Besides the rare exception for medical needs, it has no place in our society."

Sex selection can be done through a variety of means. Sex-selective abortions have currently relied on ultrasound or amniocentesis, requiring that women wait until the fourth or fifth month of pregnancy. Other methods, such as sperm sorting and pre-implantation genetic diagnosis, can select for sex before pregnancy but are expensive and elaborate.

The practice is so widespread in China and India that the latter may be "missing" up to 100 million girls and women. The website of DNA Worldwide has an "ethics" page, which states, in its entirety:

[We] are aware that there are some concerns that the Pink or Blue Test could lead to gender selection and are keen to encourage the ethical debate in this new area. As a company we, together with the manufacturers of the test, have decided not to sell the early gender test into China and India and some other areas, as it is not our intention that the Pink or Blue test should be used, either directly or indirectly, for sex selection.

The company operates in the UK, a liberal society that does not prize babies of one sex over another, a culture which also places the responsibility for the unborn baby firmly with the mother. As this is the case with most if not all Western cultures we are happy that, with education and informed debate, responsibility should lie with the individual.

"DNA Worldwide's statement suggests that sex selection is acceptable in some nations - those that are 'liberal' and 'educated' - but not in others," noted Sujatha Jesudason, director of the Center's Program on Gender, Justice and Human Genetics. "Yet the some of the highest rates of sex selection in India are found in affluent, educated, and urban areas such as South Delhi."

"This technology opens the door to a wider array of genetic selection and even enhancement," added Jesse Reynolds, a policy analyst at the Center. "Unless society confronts this challenge now, we will see genetic testing, selection, and perhaps even modification for more and more traits."

DNA Worldwide is based in Bath, UK and Aurora, Illinois, and is a subsidiary of David Nicholson Associates. The test costs ₤190, or about $380. See:
http://www.dna-worldwide.com/

A U.S.-based company offers a similar test for $500. Scientists and customers claim the "Gender Mentor" test offered by Acu-Gen Bio-Lab is inaccurate, and the company is the target of a lawsuit.

Sex selection is largely prohibited in the United Kingdom and India, but is entirely unregulated in the United States.

The Center for Genetics and Society is a nonprofit information and public affairs organization working to encourage responsible uses and effective societal governance of the new human genetic and reproductive technologies. It supports women's health and reproductive rights, including the right to terminate an unwanted pregnancy. For more information, see http://www.genetics-and-society.org.

Contact:
Marcy Darnovsky
510-625-0819 x305