'Although I told them I
won't refer them to the laboratory, some of them found a way to get the test
done and came back with a report. Some are reluctant to pay a deposit for a
maternity package before they know the fetus is a boy or girl,' Wong said.
'The test's original
purpose is for parents to check if the baby may suffer from severe sex-linked
genetic diseases so they can have some prenatal counselling or an abortion, but
doctors worry that the test is being used for gender selection including
abortion,' she said.
Wong's earlier study,
reported by the Post last year, found that the number of boys born in Hong Kong
is soaring compared with girls, spurred by an influx of mainland mothers who
prefer sons.
Wong said she would say it
was unethical for doctors to refer patients for the test without knowing the
real intentions behind it.
'Doctors won't know if the
patient may use the result for the decision of abortion. Some parents may want
to have better planning before the delivery, such as buying clothes for girls
or boys,' she said.
Deputy medical director of
the Union Hospital Dr Ares Leung Kwok-ling said the hospital's resident
obstetricians 'have reached a consensus' not to use the test because the worry
of it 'being abused for gender selection'.
'The test is different
from ultrasound scans because it can tell the fetal sex in the first trimester
[of pregnancy] while the ultrasound can only detect it in the second trimester.
At the later stage of pregnancy, it is always easier for doctors to warn
against an abortion because it would be more painful and risky to the mother,'
said Leung, who is also senior vice-president of the college.
Dr Fung Tak-yuen, head of
obstetrics at Baptist Hospital, said doctors in his department received requests
from mainland mothers for fetal sexing, but the hospital denied them.
Head of obstetrics at the
Hong Kong Sanatorium and Hospital Dr Joseph Chan Woon-tong said fetal sexing
test was unnecessary. 'Why do we have to provide it?' he asked.
St Paul's Hospital
administration discussed the test after requests from some mothers, but decided
to ban it after DiagCor failed to provide scientific proof of its accuracy
rate.
A sales and marketing
manager at Diagcor, who gave her name only as Ms Ma, said the laboratory test
was the first part of a paternity test. Ma said the test, which examines fetal
genes contained in the mother's blood, can reveal whether the baby's
Y-chromosome matches the father's.
If the baby is a girl, the
doctor then takes a sample of amniotic fluid for testing for further matching
with the father's genes. Fluid in the amniotic sac surrounding the fetus also
contains fetal DNA.
Ma, who declined to
provide the total number of requests for the test, would say only that demand
is 'growing fast' among mainland mothers giving birth in Hong Kong.
She said how the test
results were used was an issue of medical practice and a patient's choice.
'We have never promoted
the test for fetal sexing, but some mothers need the paternity test results for
immigration applications and other purposes ... other tests such as ultrasounds
and samples of the amniotic fluid can also tell the sex of a fetus,' she said.
Two pregnant women from
the mainland have appeared in Kowloon City Court accused of using false doctor's
certificates to book obstetrics services in Hong Kong.
The women, who are both
due to give birth in November, were arrested after they tried to make
appointments at the Princess Margaret Hospital last month.
They were refused bail,
and the case was adjourned until August 12.
130
The number of boys born
for every 100 girls in China, from Henan in the north to Hainan in the south.
Without selection it would be 105
Private obstetrician Dr
Grace Wong Ying
Reference information: Sunday Morning Post
The information aims to provide educational purpose only. Anyone reading it should consult obstetrics and gynecologys before considering treatment and should not rely on the information above.
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