Editing Sex-selective abortion (section)

== Prenatal sex discernment ==
{{Main|Prenatal sex discernment}}
[[File:Sex determination ban.JPG|thumb|left|Sign in an Indian hospital stating that prenatal sex determination is not done there and is illegal]]
[[File:Boy.JPG|thumb|Ultrasonography image showing the fetus is a boy]]
The earliest post-implantation test, [[cell free fetal DNA]] testing, involves taking a blood sample from the mother and isolating the small amount of fetal [[DNA]] that can be found within it. When performed after week seven of pregnancy, this method is about 98% accurate.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Devaney SA, Palomaki GE, Scott JA, Bianchi DW | title = Noninvasive fetal sex determination using cell-free fetal DNA: a systematic review and meta-analysis | journal = JAMA | volume = 306 | issue = 6 | pages = 627–636 | date = August 2011 | pmid = 21828326 | pmc = 4526182 | doi = 10.1001/jama.2011.1114 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-14457670 |date=August 10, 2011 |title=Baby gender blood tests 'accurate' | vauthors = Michelle R |newspaper=[[BBC News Online]] |access-date=June 20, 2018 |archive-date=July 23, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170723122740/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-14457670 |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[Obstetric ultrasonography]], either transvaginally or transabdominally, checks for various markers of fetal sex. It can be performed at or after week 12 of pregnancy. At this point, {{frac|3|4}} of fetal sexes can be correctly determined, according to a 2001 study.<ref name=mazza>{{cite journal | vauthors = Mazza V, Falcinelli C, Paganelli S, Contu G, Mantuano SM, Battafarano SD, Forabosco A, Volpe A | title = Sonographic early fetal gender assignment: a longitudinal study in pregnancies after in vitro fertilization | journal = Ultrasound in Obstetrics & Gynecology | volume = 17 | issue = 6 | pages = 513–516 | date = June 2001 | pmid = 11422974 | doi = 10.1046/j.1469-0705.2001.00421.x | s2cid = 37709826 | doi-access = free }}</ref> Accuracy for males is approximately 50% and for females almost 100%. When performed after week 13 of pregnancy, ultrasonography gives an accurate result in almost 100% of cases.<ref name=mazza />

The most invasive measures are [[chorionic villus sampling]] (CVS) and [[amniocentesis]], which involve testing of the chorionic villus (found in the placenta) and [[amniotic fluid]], respectively. Both techniques typically test for [[Chromosome abnormality|chromosomal disorders]] but can also reveal the sex of the child and are performed early in the pregnancy. However, they are often more expensive and more dangerous than blood sampling or ultrasonography, so they are seen less frequently than other sex determination techniques.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Young C, von Dadelszen P, Alfirevic Z | title = Instruments for chorionic villus sampling for prenatal diagnosis | journal = The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews | volume = 2013 | issue = 1 | pages = CD000114 | date = January 2013 | pmid = 23440775 | pmc = 7050982 | doi = 10.1002/14651858.CD000114.pub2 }}</ref>

Prenatal sex determination is restricted in many countries, and so is the communication of the sex of the fetus to the pregnant woman or her family, in order to prevent sex selective abortion.
In India, prenatal sex determination is regulated under the [[Pre-conception and Prenatal Diagnostic Techniques (Prohibition of Sex Selection) Act]] 1994.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://pndt.gov.in/writereaddata/mainlinkfile/File53.pdf|title=The Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (Prohibition of Sex Selection) Act, 1994: Answers to Frequently Asked Questions | work = Center for Enquiry Into Health and Allied Themes (CEHAT) | publisher = Ministry of Health and Family Welfare |access-date=June 7, 2017|archive-date=March 3, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303201506/http://pndt.gov.in/writereaddata/mainlinkfile/File53.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>

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China launched its first ultrasonography machine in 1979.<ref name= "Junhong_2001" /> Chinese health care clinics began introducing ultrasound technologies that could be used to determine prenatal sex in 1982. By 1991, Chinese companies were producing 5,000 ultrasonography machines per year. Almost every rural and urban hospital and family planning clinics in China had a good quality sex discernment equipment by 2001.<ref name = "Junhong_2001">{{cite journal | vauthors = Junhong C | year = 2001 | title = Prenatal Sex Determination and Sex-Selective Abortion in Rural Central China | journal = Population and Development Review | volume = 27 | issue = 2| page = 260 |doi=10.1111/j.1728-4457.2001.00259.x}}</ref>

The launch of ultrasonography technology in India too occurred in 1979, but its expansion was slower than China. Ultrasound sex discernment technologies were first introduced in major cities of India in the 1980s, its use expanded in India's urban regions in the 1990s, and became widespread in the 2000s.<ref name=maydrgermany>{{cite journal | vauthors = Akbulut-Yuksel M, Rosenblum D |date=January 2012 |ssrn=1989245 |title=The Indian Ultrasound Paradox |journal=IZA Discussion Paper |issue=6273 }}</ref>