Fetal sexing is an exam that aims to identify the baby's sex from the 8th week of pregnancy through the analysis of maternal blood, in which the presence of the Y chromosome, which is present in males, is verified.
This exam can be performed from the 8th week of pregnancy, however the more weeks you have of pregnancy, the greater the certainty of the result. To perform this examination, the pregnant woman does not need medical advice and should not be fasting, it is even important that she is well fed and hydrated so as not to be ill at the time of collection.
How the exam is done
The fetal sex test is done by analyzing a small blood sample that is taken from the woman, which is then sent to the laboratory for analysis. In the laboratory, fragments of DNA from the fetus that are present in the mother's blood are evaluated, and research is carried out using molecular techniques, such as PCR, for example, to identify the presence or absence of the SYR region, which is the region that contains the Y chromosome, which is present in boys.
It is recommended that the test be done from the 8th week of pregnancy so that you can be more sure about the result. However, women who have had a bone marrow transplant or blood transfusion whose donor is male should not perform fetal sexing, as the result may be wrong.
Fetal sexing exam price
The price of fetal sexing varies according to the laboratory where the test is performed and if there is an urgency to have the test result, being more expensive in these situations. The exam is not available on the public network nor is it covered by health plans and costs between R $ 200 and R $ 500.00.
How to interpret the results
The result of the fetal sexing exam takes about 10 days to be released, however if requested urgently, the result can be released in up to 3 days.
The exam aims to identify the presence or absence of the SYR region, which is the region that contains the Y chromosome. Thus, the two possible results of the exam are:
- Absence of the SYR region, indicating that there is no Y chromosome and, therefore, it is a girl; Presence of the SYR region, indicating that it is a Y chromosome and, therefore, it is a boy.
In the case of twin pregnancies, if the result is negative for the Y chromosome, the mother will know that she is only pregnant with girls. But, if the result is positive for the Y chromosome, this indicates that there is at least 1 boy, but that does not mean that the other baby is also.
