Gender reveal parties are best known as celebrations involving pink and blue, cake and confetti, and the occasional wildfire . Along with being social media hits, gender reveals are a testament to how society is squeezing children into one of two predetermined gender boxes before they are even born. These parties are often based on the 18- to 20-week ultrasound, otherwise known as the anatomy scan .
This is the point during fetal development when the genitals are typically observed and the word “boy” or “girl” can be secretly written on a piece of paper and placed into an envelope for the planned reveal. Now there is a new player in the gender reveal game: genetic screening. Advancements in genetic research have led to the development of a simple blood test called cell-free DNA prenatal screening that screens for whether a baby has extra or missing pieces of genetic information – chromosomes – as early as 10 weeks into pregnancy.
Included in this test are the sex chromosomes, otherwise known as X and Y, that play a role in the development and function of the body. This blood test is more informally called noninvasive prenatal testing, or NIPT. Many people refer to it as “the gender test.
” But this blood test cannot determine gender. As genetic counselors and clinical researchers working to improve genetic services for gender-diverse and intersex people, we emphasize the significance of using precise and accurate language when discussing genetic testing. This i.