- Non-invasive prenatal tests screen for genes relating to height and hair colour
- Conducted between 9 and 13 weeks old, it also can reveal the gender of a baby
- But critics say it will attract ‘sex-selection’ tourists who are keen to have a boy
Stephen Matthews For Mailonline
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A new blood test set to be rolled out across the NHS which identifies undesirable traits in babies could trigger a rise in abortions, experts have said.
Known as non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT), it screens for genes relating to height and hair colour – as well as revealing the sex of a baby.
But critics are concerned that the test, which can be undertaken when the foetus is nine weeks old, will encourage ‘sex-selection’ tourists who are desperate to have a boy.
This early screening method also gives parents much more time to consider aborting their child, according to the Government-backed Nuffield Council for Bioethics.
Currently, parents can discover the gender of their child at their 20-week scan – four weeks before the legal cut-off for termination.
Critics are concerned that the test, which is undertaken when the foetus is nine weeks old, will encourage ‘sex-selection’ tourists who are desperate to have a boy (stock)
Professor Tom Shakespeare, chair of the body’s group on NIPT, told of his growing concern over the test which can screen for Down’s syndrome.
Speaking to The Telegraph, he said: ‘Abortions on the basis of sex appear to be rare in Britain.
‘However, this could change with a new DNA testing method that allows the baby’s sex to be revealed to prospective parents much earlier.
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‘If left unchecked, use of this technique to determine sex could lead to an increase in sex-selective abortions here, and to Britain becoming a destination for them.’
Professor Shakespeare remained adamant that tests should only be used for those at risk of significant medical conditions that could impact a child’s life.
The tests, which are to be rolled out across the NHS by 2018, have been welcomed by many doctors because they are 99 per cent accurate.
However, the tests, which are to be rolled out across the NHS by 2018, have been welcomed by many doctors in the past few months
They also promise to reduce the risk of miscarriages linked to the invasive amniocentesis test, previously the only way of accurately diagnosing Down’s.
It works by taking a blood sample from the pregnant woman’s placenta and screening it for a range of genetic traits.
The Nuffield Council on Bioethics launched a report into genetic testing in March, saying that it is driving the search for the perfect designer baby.
But experts were quick to defend the NIPT test, and condemned the report as ‘poor quality’ and ‘disappointing’.
A spokesman for the British Pregnancy Advisory Service previously said: ‘This is a disappointing report, which seems permeated by a mistrust of women and the reproductive choices they make.
‘BPAS believes strongly that women are capable of making good, ethical decisions about their pregnancies, and as the person who must bear the consequences of that pregnancy, must be trusted to do so.
‘Women who end a pregnancy after a diagnosis of a syndrome such as Down’s are not making a statement about the value of disabled people, but an intensely personal decision about what is right and possible within the context of their lives and existing families.’
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