Goodbody Clinic ad: Early Baby Gender Blood Test

An early baby gender blood test that tells you whether you are having a boy or a girl from just 6 weeks of pregnancy, months before the 20-week scan. It detects fetal DNA in your blood and is 99.9 percent accurate. From £120 with your own sample collection, £165 at a Goodbody clinic or £185 with a nurse home visit. Same-day results if the laboratory receives your sample by 11am. Key facts * Price: from £120 with your own sample collection; £165 at a Goodbody clinic; £185 with a nurse home visit * From: 6 weeks of pregnancy, counted from the first day of your last period * How it works: looks for Y-chromosome DNA from the baby in a venous blood sample from the mother: Y DNA found means a boy, none found means a girl * Accuracy: 99.9 percent when the sample is taken from 6 weeks * Results: the same day if your sample reaches the laboratory before 11am, Monday to Friday; otherwise within 1 to 2 working days * Safety: a standard blood sample from your arm; no risk to you or your baby Your questions answered When can you find out the gender of your baby? With a blood test, from 6 weeks of pregnancy. The baby's DNA is present in your bloodstream from early pregnancy, and from 6 weeks there is enough of it to test reliably for the Y chromosome. By comparison an ultrasound can usually see the sex from around 14 to 16 weeks, and the NHS anomaly scan at 18 to 21 weeks is when most parents in the UK find out. Non-invasive prenatal screening (NIPT) can also report sex from 10 weeks. How early can you find out the gender of a baby? 6 weeks is the earliest reliable point for a blood test. Before that, the amount of fetal DNA in your blood may be too low and a 'no Y detected' result could be wrong. Count from the first day of your last period, or use your dating scan if you have had one, and book the sample for 6 weeks or later. If you book earlier by mistake, we will help you rearrange the date. How accurate is a gender blood test? 99.9 percent when the sample is taken from 6 weeks of pregnancy and there is enough fetal DNA present. The test looks for the Y chromosome, which only males carry, so finding it is a definitive sign of a boy. A girl result relies on finding no Y DNA, which is why timing matters: too early and a boy's DNA may not yet be detectable. Taking the sample from 6 weeks avoids this. Twins and recent pregnancies can affect interpretation; see below. Can you find out the gender at 8 or 12 weeks? Yes, easily. The blood test works from 6 weeks onwards and becomes only more reliable as fetal DNA increases, so at 8 or 12 weeks the result is at its most dependable. At 12 weeks an ultrasound cannot usually tell reliably, so a blood test is the way to know at your 12-week scan rather than waiting until 20 weeks. How does the gender blood test work? During pregnancy small amounts of the baby's DNA cross into your bloodstream. The laboratory extracts this cell-free DNA from a standard blood sample and looks for sequences from the Y chromosome. Because you have no Y chromosome yourself, any Y DNA in your blood must come from the baby, meaning a boy. If none is found, the baby is a girl. It is the same principle used in NHS-style non-invasive prenatal screening. Is the test safe for my baby? Yes. It is a standard blood sample taken from your arm by a trained phlebotomist or nurse, exactly like any other blood test. Nothing touches the baby, so there is no risk of miscarriage or harm, unlike the invasive procedures used decades ago to determine sex before birth. How much does a gender blood test cost? From £120 at Goodbody Clinic when you arrange your own sample collection, £165 with the sample taken at one of our clinics, or £185 with a nurse home visit, including laboratory analysis and your result. Same-day results are available when the sample reaches the laboratory before 11am on a weekday. The NHS does not offer a gender test; it tells you at the 20-week scan if the sonographer can see, and only if you ask. Can I do a gender blood test at home? The sample needs to be a venous blood draw rather than a finger-prick, because the laboratory needs enough blood to extract fetal DNA and to avoid contamination from a partner's or son's DNA on the skin, which is a known cause of wrong results with mail-in finger-prick kits. You can have it done at home by booking a nurse visit, or choose your own collection and have a healthcare professional draw the sample. When do I get my results? Your result is emailed the same day if your sample reaches the laboratory before 11am, Monday to Friday; otherwise within 1 to 2 working days. Clinic and nurse samples taken early in the week are the most likely to qualify. If you are planning a reveal, tell us and we will help you time the sample. Can the test be wrong, and what about twins? Wrong results are rare when the sample is taken from 6 weeks. The main causes are testing too early, so a boy's Y DNA is missed, and a vanishing twin or a very recent previous pregnancy, which can leave male DNA in the blood for a time. With twins, Y DNA found means at least one boy; no Y DNA means two girls, but the test cannot tell you both sexes if one is a boy. Tell us if you are expecting twins or have had a pregnancy in the last few months. Does the test tell me anything else about my baby? No. It reports only the baby's sex. It is not a screening test for chromosomal conditions such as Down's syndrome; that is the NIPT test, which is available from 10 weeks and reports sex as well. If you want screening for conditions as well as sex, ask about our NIPT options. Is a gender blood test available on the NHS? No. The NHS does not offer a blood test to find out the baby's sex, and NHS NIPT is only offered where screening shows a higher chance of a chromosomal condition. Most parents in the UK find out at the 18 to 21 week anomaly scan, if the position of the baby allows and the hospital's policy is to tell you. A private blood test is the only way to know from 6 weeks. What happens next Your result is emailed as soon as it is available: the same day if your sample reaches the laboratory before 11am on a weekday, otherwise within 1 to 2 working days. The report simply tells you boy or girl, and our team is available if you have any questions about it. All samples are analysed by a UKAS-accredited laboratory.