NIPT gender reveal testing is available at the First Encounters clinic in Cardiff. This test can be performed from just 6 weeks into your pregnancy, and even at that early stage, it can identify whether you're having a boy or a girl with 99.9% accuracy.
The term 'non-invasive prenatal testing' (NIPT for short) is most commonly used to refer to blood tests that screen for chromosomal abnormalities. For example, our Veracity Premium test checks whether your baby is likely to be affected by conditions like Down's syndrome. When we talk about NIPT, we're almost always talking about this type of test.
That said, NIPT does have other applications – one of which is to check your unborn baby's sex. Ultrasound scanning typically can't reveal whether your baby is male or female until you're at least 16 weeks along, but by looking at the foetal DNA in your bloodstream, NIPT can tell you the gender from as early as 6 weeks.
NIPT Gender Reveal: How Does It Work?
Non-invasive prenatal testing starts with taking a small blood sample from the mum-to-be. If you come to First Encounters for an early gender test, the blood draw will be performed at our clinic in Cardiff. Then we'll send your sample off to the lab for analysis.
If you're pregnant, your blood sample will contain small fragments of DNA from your unborn child. In order to determine whether that child is a boy or a girl, the team at the lab will look for male (XY) chromosomes in those DNA fragments.
- If XY chromosomes are present: it's a boy!
- If no XY chromosomes are found: it's a girl!
The results of your NIPT gender test will be emailed to you within 3 days of your blood sample arriving at the lab. If you wish, the results can be emailed to a friend or family member instead (so that they can arrange your gender reveal party without spoiling the surprise for you).
Using NIPT for gender confirmation is safe, speedy and accurate. If you have any questions about this service, see our Early Gender DNA Test page or contact First Encounters here.
