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Original poster

To think this gender prediction compay should be shut down?

69 replies

pinkorbluetoosoon · 30/05/2010 12:25

They tell you if you are having a boy or girl through blood test.

Friend was told 'boy' she was devestated and has been coming to terms with it over the lat 5 weeks.

(she has 3 boys and has wanted a girl for a long time)

She has just been for her scan and 100% a girl! she has 7 pics of the babys bits and the sonographer said she is certain there is n ps o tsiclesa ca clearly see its a girl.

Now my friend was upset but was still very much happy to be pregnant with the boy she thought she was having,

BUT other people could get that result and would still be within the legal time frame to have an abortion, the doctors wouldn't know about the gender test. AFAIK some groups of people do this, thats why my hospital operates a 'no tell' policy on scans even at 20 weeks!

What do you think?

OP posts:
cocolepew · 30/05/2010 12:28

She shouldn't be devastated at having a boy, she should have been happy to be having a healthy baby. Pepole who bleat on about wanting a certain sex get on my wick.

Nobody forced her to have the test.

BAFE · 30/05/2010 12:31

I think if you're gonna offer a service predicting which sex an unborn baby is gonna be then it needs to be accurate.

Original poster
pinkorbluetoosoon · 30/05/2010 12:31

Right so people aren't allowed to want a daughter after 3 sons?

I had 2 boys then a girl and having a daughter is totally different.

I can toytally understand why she would be devestated at the prospect of never having a daughter.

What I'm saying is, this company claims to be able to tell you 98% what you are having, when that is clearly not tha case!

OP posts:
Original poster
pinkorbluetoosoon · 30/05/2010 12:32

Thats what I mean BAFE,

And also I think being able to be told this (accurate or not) at only 10-12 weeks is too early as some people would use that information to a negative and questionable end.

OP posts:
Lulumaam · 30/05/2010 12:33

well, they are saying 98 % accuracy. which means 2 % of results will be inaccurate

and your friend was in that 2 %

people should never EVER undertake any antenatal testing/scanning without understanding totally the pros and cons

she never thought about how she would feel if the baby was a boy?

surely she would have thought about that .. whether she wnated anotehr baby/child or a girl

that is not the clinic's fault

IlooklikeGrotbagstoday · 30/05/2010 12:34

Seems to me that your friend was one of the 2%.

cocolepew · 30/05/2010 12:34

well she was obviously one of the 2%. You can want a daughter or son, but too be devastated is a bit much. Everyone knows there are 2 sexes you can get, it shouldn't be a surprise.

I've lost 3 babies I wouldn't care what I had (and didn't)

TrillianAstra · 30/05/2010 12:34

If they clearly say 'our test is 75% accurate' (for example) then why not? If peopel are willing to pay money for somehting that has a 1 in 4 chance of being wrong then let them.

As long as they clearly state their accuracy levels then there's no reason for them to be shut down.

You seem to have 2 very different arguments here:

1 - it was inaccurate and your friend was upset

2 - people could have abortions based on the gender they are told.

If you are working on point 1 then you are saying that gender prediction companies should be accurate, or closed down.

If you are working on point 2 then you are saying that all gender preditiocn companies should be closed down, accurate or not.

Which is it?

Chandra · 30/05/2010 12:35

What is most worrying is that it could be used to abort a healthy child, who may be or not, of the sex they expected.

TrillianAstra · 30/05/2010 12:36

X-posted while the true accuracy they are claiming was put up.

It sounds like neither you nor your friend understand what 98% accurate means.

98% accurate means that for every 50 people, 49 will be told the right thing, 1 will be told the wrong thing.

GeekOfTheWeek · 30/05/2010 12:41

If she hasn't had the baby then it could be the scan that is wrong.

If the blood test was looking at chromosones then it is unlikely to be incorrect.

GeekOfTheWeek · 30/05/2010 12:43

Btw in cases where the scan has been wrong about the sex, it is usually when the parents have been told its a girl then had a boy. Never heard of it the other way around.

Jux · 30/05/2010 12:43

The company offers a service, it is not forcing anyone to take them up on it. If someone accepts the service, well, presumably they're grown up and should be responsible about it themselves.

You should never ask a question if you're not prepared to hear the answer - that includes the answer you don't want. Otherwise, don't ask.

Imarriedafrog · 30/05/2010 12:44

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

Mishy1234 · 30/05/2010 12:49

After having 3 boys, I don't think your friend was unreasonable to have a longing for a girl. I think it's human nature tbh. However, it's not reasonable to allow the result to have a lasting effect on how you feel about the resulting child and it doesn't sound like your friend did that.

How does the blood test work? It sounds distinctly dodgy to me. I was under the impression that the only sure way of knowing was through looking at the amniotic fluid following an amnio (or a CVS sample?)?

Anyway, people need to take responsibility for their own actions and know that there is a risk of inaccuracy. They stated a 2% chance they could be wrong, so I suppose your friend will have to accept that.

4andnotout · 30/05/2010 12:55

My friend from antenatal was told she was having a boy at her 20 week scan but actually had a girl, she had bought everything in blue and decorated the nursery blue too.

sarah293 · 30/05/2010 12:55

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

TrillianAstra · 30/05/2010 12:56

I still want to know if the OP is objecting to:

her friend being upset by the inaccurate test

or

the fact that the existence of such a test could lead to gender-selective abortions (accurate or no)

or

the fact that people could base gender-selective abortions on an inaccurate test and so abort a baby of the "right" sex

Lulumaam · 30/05/2010 13:02

agree trillan

jellybeans · 30/05/2010 13:02

I am not sure but there are UK websites where people openly discuss 'extreme gender dissapointment' and their plans to terminate if the baby is 'yet another boy' (sometimes girl but usually boy). Some people are just so used to getting 'whatever' they want these days especially if they can 'afford it then it's their choice'. I do see it as different to terminating if the baby has fatal defects. Some people are so obsessed with having one gender that they will do anything unfortunately. I personally think they should be grateful for boy/girl.

giraffesCANdriveAcar · 30/05/2010 13:04

"devastated" at having a boy

Try having a dead baby then talk about being devastated.

oldandgreynow · 30/05/2010 13:08

I wonder why you think teh scan is more accurate than the blood test?

jellybeans · 30/05/2010 13:17

giraffesCANdriveAcar I feel the same. Devastation is finding out at a scan your baby will die or is dead or severely ill NOT that it is a healthy boy/girl. Some people are so spoilt!! I was just grateful for a live baby each time!!

chipmonkey · 30/05/2010 13:28

I would think they should only be shut down if you can prove that they are telling lies about the accuracy of their tests i.e if they claim a success rate of 98% when in fact it's more like 50%.

Like I couldn't shut Persona down when I was one of the 6% who got pg while using it as contraception

5DollarShake · 30/05/2010 13:37

I think the OP has a basic misunderstanding of how statistics work.

And what 'devastation' actually constitutes.

And is possibly not going to be coming back to this thread.

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