Prenatal sex discernment is the prenatal testing for discerning the sex of a fetus before birth.

Methods

Prenatal sex discernment can be performed by preimplantation genetic diagnosis before conception, but this method may not always be classified as prenatal sex discernment because it's performed even before implantation.

Applications

Potential applications of prenatal sex discernment include:

Legal status

India

Prenatal sex determination was banned in India in 1994, under the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques Act, 1994. The act aims to prevent sex-selective abortion, which, according to the Indian Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, "has its roots in India's long history of strong patriarchal influence in all spheres of life". Prenatal sex determination has caused the child sex ratio to go down at alarming rates, in India, which is also another factor that led to its banning. However, the Supreme Court of India has accused the Government of India of poor implementation and enforcement of the act. Over time, there has been a substitution effect of more families participating in pre-natal sex determination instead of the previously popular act of female foeticide.

China

On May 1, 2016, sex determination and sex-selective abortion were prohibited. Doctors are forbidden by the state from revealing the sex of unborn babies in an effort to stop prospective parents from finding out the sex of their child and potentially abort or abandon babies.