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When pregnant, many couples are curious about the gender of the baby, boy or girl. In fact, many people around pregnant women may even guess the gender of the baby that is still in the womb. Guessing through the shape of the belly of a pregnant woman, changes in the skin of pregnant women, to changes in the behavior of pregnant women. Well, one way that can be used to find out the gender of the baby is to do a blood test.
Blood test to find out the gender of your baby
You can do blood tests to find out the sex of your baby, even from the time your pregnancy is only a few weeks old. Blood tests can be done earlier than the ultrasound which is only accurately performed at 18-22 weeks of gestation to determine the sex of the baby. So, for those of you who can't wait to find out the gender of your prospective baby from the beginning of pregnancy, maybe you can do a blood test.
Blood tests are actually intended to find out chromosomal abnormalities (such as Down syndrome) in the fetus. However, this test can also be used to determine the sex of the baby. This blood test is commonly known as a free cell DNA test or a noninvasive prenatal test. Why is it said to be noninvasive? Because this test is not done by means of surgery or tissue removal.
Blood tests are performed using samples of fetal DNA present in the mother's blood. Because it is done by taking a sample of maternal blood, this DNA test is more accurate than using maternal urine. According to research published by the Journal of the American Medical Association, the accuracy of this DNA test is 95.4% for boys and 98.6% for girls.
What's more, DNA testing can be done from 7 weeks of gestation to find out the sex of the baby. Performing this test also does not pose any risks during pregnancy. In addition to determining gender, blood tests can also be used to determine the relationship between the parents or the father of the fetus, the rhesus type of fetal blood group, Duchenne muscular dystrophy, hemophilia, congenital adrenal hyperplasia, cystic fibrosis, Down syndrome, and beta-thalassemia. Blood tests are highly recommended for pregnant women who have a high risk of giving birth to babies with genetic disorders.
It's not just the gender you get on the blood test
Yes, blood tests are done not only for the purpose of knowing the gender of the baby, but actually more than that and this is more important. Blood tests are also done to find out chromosomal abnormalities that can occur in a baby boy or girl. Disorders such as congenital adrenal hyperplasia can also be detected from this test.
Congenital adrenal hyperplasia is a hormonal balance disorder that can cause a female fetus to have masculine traits. Baby girls born with this disorder can experience ambiguous clitoral or genital swelling. If this disorder is detected early through a blood test, maybe this disorder can be treated early.
Knowing sex based on chromosomes (especially) is important for parents who have babies with ambiguous genitals. By knowing the baby's chromosome (XX for a baby girl or XY for a boy), parents can also better prepare themselves about how to raise their child according to sex.
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