Early Detection of Child's Gender?

[b_d_41501]

http://www.local6.com/health/4661482/detail.html

[Chris4]

Personally, I wouldn't want to know whether its a boy or girl. Unless the mother wanted to know... The only reason I think knowing the sex of the child is useful is so you can begin preparing the childs nursery and clothes, toys etc.
There is something in the article which shocked me.
"Somebody who really wants a boy or a girl might include such information in their decision as to whether to carry the pregnancy or to terminate it," said Dr. Henry Lerner, an obstetrician/gynecologist at Newton-Wellesley Hospital in Newton, Mass.

Would couples really terminate a pregnancy just because its not the sex they want?
I don't want to start a pro-life arguement here (which i can see happening), i believe that you should be allowed to have an abortion if you want, but i think its wrong to abort a child just because its not the sex you want. A child is a child, regardless of sex. There are reasons why i think women should be allowed to have abortions, but theres no need to go into them.

[biostudent84]

There are advantages to knowing just as much as not knowing. Look at couples that do decide they want to know...they refer to the unborn child as "him" or "her" rather than "it." Knowing makes a pregnancy even that much more personal.

[mith]

@Chris

Some cultures actually do that(abortion) because having a son means you won't have to pay a dowry and the family name lives on.
Plus Henry the Eighth would have paid dearly for that equipment

[zami'87.]

By PCR with Y-specific primers u can detect if it's a boy. It is important if there are X-linked diseases in family.

[Poison]

Some cultures actually do that(abortion) because having a son means you won't have to pay a dowry and the family name lives on.

I read somewhere that in those cultures, the number of male increased too much that most men cannot find a woman to marry and have children. This is the other side of the thread.

[James]

If that is so, natural selection of males will speed up, leading to a population of better looking men- good for the ladies

[MrMistery]

Bad for us geeks

[chemistry_freako]

lol - kinda reminds me of in oldern china, when the country folk commit infanticide because of the mindset about females being inferior, and males the reverse.
Then again, it's not the mother's fault is it? =p