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.

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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.

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Back in February last year, a debate about choosing your baby's gender was sparked by Chrissy Tiegen and John Legend revealing that they chose for their baby, Luna, to be born a girl. Understandably, this led many parents-to-be to question how this was possible and if they could do the same.

To answer the question: yes, choosing your baby’s gender is now possible due to the introduction of Preimplantation Genetic Screening (PGS) and Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis (PGD). However, this only becomes an option to couples under certain circumstances. The gender selection procedure only becomes available to couples who want to avoid passing sex-linked genetic disorders onto their children, such as haemophilia in males and Rett syndrome in females.

That said, in rare cases, gender selection becomes available to parents who wish to 'balance' their family by having a child of each gender. Hormone tests are run to check the client's fertility, and age limit may be applied. Some clinics will not consider clients unless they are married or already have at least one child of the opposite sex they're trying for.

Methods of Gender Selection

The most accurate methods of choosing your baby's gender can be very expensive and typically mean the mother-to-be has to undergo invasive infertility treatments, alongside taking fertility drugs with potential side effects.

In vitro fertilisation (IVF) is one of the main procedures which allows gender selection. IVF is a method of fertilisation outside of the womb, starting with a round of fertility drugs which help your ovaries create more than the natural amount of eggs (typically one per month). In an IVF procedure, the patient is placed under anaesthetic before the doctor inserts an ultra sound probe through the vagina to check the ovaries and follicles. A thin needle is then inserted through the vagina wall to remove the eggs from the follicles.

The next step is for the extracted eggs to be fertilised in a Petri dish. Once the eggs become embryos (after 3 to 5 days) they are inserted back into the patient's uterus. If you're younger than 35 and your embryos are healthy, no more than two are usually transferred.

Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis & Preimplantation Genetic Screening

The baby gender selection process happens during the IVF procedure, where one or two cells are removed from the embryo and tested for genetic or chromosomal disorders. Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis (PGD) and Preimplantation Genetic Screening (PGS) can be used to screen the embryos and predict the baby's gender. Parents who are hoping to avoid gender-linked disorders usually opt for PGD as the test exposes any underlying conditions the baby may have. By changing the gender of the baby, the prospective parents hope to avoid this disorder.

Preimplantation Genetic Screening is typically used by patients to check if their baby has Down's syndrome, or are hoping to 'balance' their family. Both tests are almost 100% accurate at determining the gender of the baby, and any remaining embryos are frozen so they can be used in the future if the couple decide to have more children.

The advancement of science truly is something to marvel at, but as these methods can be expensive and invasive, waiting to find out the gender of your child can be just as exciting. Wondering what your baby will be is one of the most magical parts of carrying a child, and the long-awaited day of the gender reveal is a big milestone in the pregnancy. And you don't have to wait too long! Here at First Encounters, we offer gender scans from 16 weeks and DNA gender testing from just 4 weeks.

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