Gender Selection News : Gender Venders

Acu-Gen balks at giving refunds for birth certificates showing Baby Gender Mentor was wrong

Maureen — Fri, 30 Dec 2005 01:38:00 GMT

Dozens of mothers who have complained that their Baby Gender Mentor results are incorrect according to ultrasound, CVS or amnio have been told by Acu-Gen's C.N. Wang to "reserve judgment" until the baby is born. Sherry Bonelli, online retailer of the Baby Gender Mentor prenatal gender test, maintains that Acu-Gen "stands behind" their 200% money back guarantee and claims that no refunds have yet been issued for a wrong Baby Gender Mentor result after the birth of a baby.

However, now that many women who paid $275 for the gender test that went on sale in June are due to deliver, or have just given birth, the conditions for the 200% refund have suddenly been changed.

Lauren Elizabeth
Born 11-11-2005
9 lb., 5 oz.

After an 18-week ultrasound clearly showed that Jeanne's baby was a girl -- not a boy, as her Baby Gender Mentor result claimed -- Jeanne waited patiently until her baby girl was born, and sent one of the three original birth certificates provided by the state to Acu-Gen. To her surprise, she received a letter from Acu-Gen stating that meeting the original requirements of the refund offer wasn't good enough.

We have received your request for the refund and are currently processing the case. We have also received your access code, registration number, and birth certificate. However, in order to complete the refund process, BabyGenderMentor requires the additional following items as outlined in our 200% guarantee.

1. An original birth certificate with your current address that must match your original mailing address at the time of the test.

2. A blood samle of your baby for kinship confirmation. You can obtain an archived sample of your baby's blood from the hospital of birth, or if necessary, Acu-Gen Biolab will provide a heelstick kit for you.

If you have any further questions, feel free to contact our customer service or refer to our 200% money-back warrantee at www.babygendermentor.com. Thank you.

Letter from Acu-Gen, 12/27/05

However, these requirements didn't exist when Jeanne bought her Baby Gender Mentor kit. Here's a scan of Jeanne's Baby Gender Mentor box:

Nothing about maintaining the same place of residence throughout your pregnancy in order to be eligible for a refund, and certainly no requirement to jab your newborn's foot to obtain an additional blood sample.

Previously, the conditions for the Baby Gender Mentor refund were stated on the BabyGenderMentor.com Web site as follows:

We guarantee that all test results will be 99.9% accurate. If your test results are legitimately incorrect, Baby Gender Mentor warranties a 200% refund of both the laboratory and purchasing expenses. A valid registration number and an original birth certificate are required for the refund.

Baby Gender Mentor Web site, September 2005

The Baby Gender Mentor Web site has now been changed to this:

Baby Gender Mentor warranties a 200% money-back refund for both the laboratory fee and purchasing expense of the kit. An original birth certificate and a valid registration number are both required to claim the refund. In order to be eligible for the 200% money-back guarantee you MUST read and adhere to all the recommended procedures. In addition, the parent’s name on the original birth certificate MUST match exactly the name on the blood specimen collection card, and your current address MUST match your original mailing address at the time of the test. To substantiate your claim, you MUST agree to submit the blood sample of the baby for kinship confirmation if requested by the lab. Baby Gender Mentor is not responsible for any consequences resulting from failure to follow kit instructions and will deny the 200% refund to cases deemed fraudulent. Furthermore, Baby Gender Mentor is not liable for the successful outcome of your pregnancy. In the advent of a miscarriage, no refunds will be granted. Baby Gender Mentor will not accept any gender discrepancy claims citing ultrasound image, karyotyping/FISH analysis, or any other indirect, low-resolution gender-determining techniques.

Baby Gender Mentor Web site, December 2005

What a ridiculous and pathetic attempt by this company to avoid honoring their refund promise for an incorrect result.

To get a refund, you can't move during your pregnancy

...and your current address MUST match your original mailing address at the time of the test...

This means, even though your Baby Gender Mentor test was in fact wrong, just because you move during your remaining 8 months of pregnancy, you are no longer entitled to a refund. Preposterous. At least two women have mentioned that they had their Baby Gender Mentor kit delivered to a female friend or relative with no males in the household, to reduce the chances of contamination by their husband or sons.

To get a refund, you can't maintain your privacy

Although Baby Gender Mentor's online retailer, PregnancyStore.com, assures customers that "you remain anonymous and private throughout the entire process", confidentiality goes out the window when matching names and addresses are needed for a refund.

Anonymous and Private: Baby Gender Mentor Home DNA Gender Testing Kit gender test results are guarded by secure transmission protocols. To protect your identity, your baby gender test results will only be identified by the Acu-Gen Access Code Number included with your kit. Privacy and confidentiality is VERY important to us. (For instance, when you're filling out your kit registration, you don't even need to provide your name or address -- you can remain anonymous!) You remain anonymous and private throughout the entire process. Your personal information is kept separate from the Acu-Gender test -- the lab knows only your access code and the administrator knows only the registration number. Only YOU know both the Access code and registration number to retrieve the data. Also, credit card information is also kept private and is not given to the lab – your credit card information is between your credit card company and the automatic credit card verification process. Your blood sample will be archived 12 months to prevent any refund dispute related to discrepant result, after that time your blood sample will be destroyed.

PregnancyStore.com

To get a refund, you must submit a blood sample from your baby

...you MUST agree to submit the blood sample of the baby for kinship confirmation...

I'm running out of synonyms for "ridiculous" here, let's go with "absurd". Although Acu-Gen is at fault, rather than offering an apology and a quick refund, they demand that you jab your newborn in the foot to get a blood sample! Why should your baby have to suffer getting pricked in the foot, and why should you have to endure a squalling newborn, because of Acu-Gen's mistake and ineptitude?

And why on earth would we believe that Acu-Gen would be able to make a valid "kinship confirmation" when they got the baby's gender wrong in the first place?

To get a refund, you must first give birth

...Baby Gender Mentor will not accept any gender discrepancy claims citing ultrasound image, karyotyping/FISH analysis, or any other indirect, low-resolution gender-determining techniques...

In fact, several refunds have been issued on the basis of ultrasound and CVS or amniocentesis. Several women on this site have reported receiving refunds after complaining to Acu-Gen that these tests did not agree with Baby Gender Mentor, and a retest by Acu-Gen suddenly produced the "correct" result.

To get a refund, you must deliver a live baby

...In the advent of a miscarriage, no refunds will be granted...

In the event of an early miscarriage, where the baby's gender cannot be determined, I don't see any reason why Acu-Gen should provide a refund, since the service was provided. However, if the baby's gender is determined by genetic testing or otherwise, and the Baby Gender Mentor result was incorrect, why wouldn't the company stand behind their results and refund the bereaved parent's wasted money for a wrong result? Here is a message from a mother whose daughter was stillborn in December.

What is even worse is that I called Acu-Gen since they would not respond to my e-mail and was told that they only refund for healthy babies, he didn't even know what stillborn meant. I had to explain what it was. I called back and asked to speak to the boss. He was rude!!!!!!!!!!! He said I could send my proof but their test was 99.9% accurate and didn't see how they could possibly make a mistake.

Tina

Another woman, Lisa, was told by Baby Gender Mentor that her twins were both boys -- but an amnio confirmed she wasy carrying twin girls. Sadly, Lisa's twin girls were stillborn earlier this month at 22 weeks. Lisa is sending the death certificates, indicating that both babies are female, to Acu-Gen in hopes that the refund she is entitled to will help with burial costs.

"Standing behind" a guarantee, or running away from it?

Many women with incorrect Baby Gender Mentor results have worried that by the time their baby is born, Acu-Gen will no longer be in business, or will have simply disappeared. This new set of preposterous refund requirements seems to confirm their fears that Acu-Gen will not honor their original guarantee.

Baby Gender Mentor...will deny the 200% refund to cases deemed fraudulent.

Baby Gender Mentor Web site

It's really ironic that Acu-Gen is so worried about being the victim of fraud, isn't it?

Acu-Gen reports chromosomal abnormalities to pregnant mothers who paid for gender test

Maureen — Mon, 31 Oct 2005 13:22:00 GMT

Some mothers who paid for the Baby Gender Mentor at-home blood test, which claims to detect an unborn baby's gender just 5 weeks into pregnancy, have gotten a lot more than they bargained for.

Pregnant mom Erin Rivera just thought it would be fun to tell her husband, who is stationed in Afghanistan, the gender of their third child. Instead of "fun", Erin got a shock when a call from Acu-Gen's scientific director, C.N. Wang, informed her that additional tests of her blood sample indicated the possibility of chromosomal abnormalities.

I was crying and crying. I never paid him to find that out.

Erin Rivera

Wang advised Erin to have genetic testing, which would require an amniocentesis to obtain samples of the baby's cells for testing. Because this procedure is expensive and carries a risk of miscarriage, it is only carried out in high risk cases. Following her doctor's advice, Erin decided not to have an amnio, because all other tests indicate that her baby is healthy.

Melissa, another expectant mother, has posted here in the Baby Gender Mentor forum that she, too, got a call from Wang with bad news. Melissa's Baby Gender Mentor test indicated her baby is male, but multiple ultrasounds show that the baby is a girl. After repeated testing, Wang told Melissa that there is "no doubt" her baby has male DNA, but may have a chromosomal defect that can cause malformed genitalia. When the terrified mother asked about the accuracy of this result, she was told only that Acu-Gen's testing is "far more advanced" than other prenatal diagnostics currently available. Rather than enjoying the end of her pregnancy and preparing for her baby girl, Melissa has 10 weeks of agony and worry over her baby's health to endure.

Danielle was also told by Acu-Gen that she should have chromosomal testing performed, after her Baby Gender Mentor result of a boy didn't match several ultrasound exams that showed a girl.

Many other women, who purchased the Baby Gender Mentor test just to satisfy curiosity or to get a head start on decorating the nursery, have found themselves plagued with worries about their baby's health as well. They're asking themselves, "If this gender test is perfect, and 'DNA doesn't lie', what does it mean if Acu-Gen says my baby is a boy but there are no male genitals?" Several have said, "I wish I'd never heard of this test!"

Is this legal?

The question some women are now asking is, why did this lab provide a medical diagnosis when the product is advertised only as a simple gender test?

The US Food and Drug Administration told the company that it did not need approval because the test would not be used for a medical diagnosis.

According to Acu-Gen's C.N. Wang, Boston Globe

Now, however, the test's maker has gone far beyond the original intent, to determine gender only, and has provided a diagnosis on which women might base important healthcare decisions. Faced with the news of a chromosomal or genetic defect, a woman might decide to risk an amniocentesis that would otherwise be deemed unnecessary; worse still, the possibility exists that a woman could choose to terminate a pregnancy based on this "advanced" and supposedly infallible testing.

Yet Acu-Gen has not revealed the methods behind their testing for scientific scrutiny, nor provided any research data that would prove accuracy or provide a false-positive rate. How can a woman's own obstetrician, responsible for the care of mother and unborn baby, have any idea how to evaluate such a claim?

There's no published data as to how well this works. The techniques we used are nowhere near as encouraging as people are being led to believe. It is fraught with potential complications.

Mark Evans, lead investigator of a National Institutes of Health trial on fetal cells in maternal blood

Prenatal test reveals more than gender
New Jersey Star-Ledger
(Article free through 14-NOV-05.)

Baby Gender Mentor now for sale in Europe

Maureen — Sun, 23 Oct 2005 01:29:00 GMT

Scotland's colorful newspaper The Sunday Mail reports that Acu-Gen is now "targeting Scotland" with sales of Baby Gender Mentor, an at-home fetal sex test kit.

Previously, numerous news articles about Baby Gender Mentor raised concerns about the test being used for sex selective abortions in countries with a strong preference for boys, such as India and China. At that time, the president of the test's exclusive online retailer, PregnancyStore.com, stated that the kit is available only in the United States.

This firm could be making claims they cannot substantiate, luring people into thinking they have information on which they can act. For some mums and dads, that might only go as far as painting the nursery pink but others may terminate a pregnancy because they believe they are not getting what they want. That's enough of an ethical minefield but what if they were to abort a child they did want?

Glasgow University Professor in The Sunday Mail

An second article features the story of a woman who says her Baby Gender Mentor result is incorrect. Pamela Gold and her husband were told by Acu-Gen that their baby, due in February, is a son. An ultrasound, however, showed a girl, and an amniocentesis later confirmed that the baby is a girl. "I'm in touch with many women who are unhappy with the service this company provides," said Pamela.

For Sale on the Net..The Sex of Your New Baby
Anger Flares over £150 Home Test
Scotland's The Sunday Mail, Donna White
Kit said I'd have a boy .. but my tot's a girl
Scotland's The Sunday Mail

Doctors are skeptical about Baby Gender Mentor, says Newsweek

Maureen — Tue, 18 Oct 2005 11:39:00 GMT

Doctors are skeptical about the claims of Baby Gender Mentor to predict a baby's gender just 5 weeks into pregnancy with 99.9% accuracy, because no evidence has been presented by the company to back up the claim. When asked about the details of the 14-year Acu-Gen trial that predicted the gender of 20,000 babies with 99.9% accuracy, Acu-Gen's president responded:

The accuracy is based on correlation studies between two technology platforms with validated data from actual births spanning more than a decade.

Acu-Gen president C.N. Wang

It's not clear to me that "correlation studies between two technology platforms" means that "the gender Acu-Gen predicted matched the gender of the baby when it was born 999 times out of 1,000" but perhaps that's what he's getting at.

It's really too bad the details of this study aren't available, because there must be so much interesting information there. For example, how often did a false male result due to a male vanishing twin? And how often was a baby born having male or female DNA, but with malformed genitals making it appear to be the opposite sex? These two possibilities have been suggested to women who have reported that ultrasound views of their baby's genitals don't match the Baby Gender Mentor prediction, yet Acu-Gen's trial seems to prove that these anomalies occurred in no more than .1% of the 20,000 pregnancies studied.

It would certainly be interesting to know whether the women involved in the study had a routine ultrasound during their prenatal care, and its outcome.

Wang says that manuscripts are in preparation to be submitted to peer-reviewed journals, so hopefully we will find the answers to these interesting questions soon.

Gender Bender
A new test claims it can determine fetal gender as early as five weeks into pregnancy. Doctors are skeptical.
Newsweek, Debra Goldschmidt

Boston Globe reports Baby Gender Mentor accuracy is questioned

Maureen — Mon, 17 Oct 2005 09:20:00 GMT

It's a learning and adaptation processes for all of us, including myself, including all the women out there.

Dr. C.N. Wang, Acu-Gen Scientific Director

I wonder if any of the women who bought the Baby Gender Mentor test realized they were signing up for a "learning and adaptation process". Acu-Gen claims to have already conducted a study of 20,000 women over 14 years.

Gender test's accuracy is questioned

St. Louis newspaper reports Baby Gender Mentor investigation by Illinois law enforcement

Maureen — Thu, 13 Oct 2005 18:31:00 GMT

An investigation into the sales of Baby Gender Mentor, an at-home DNA test to reveal an unborn baby's gender, is in the preliminary stage, according to the Illinois attorney general. The attorney general's office has not received complaints about the test, although complaints have been filed with the FTC.

Sherry Bonelli, Baby Gender Mentor's retailer, states that the manufacturer has given no refunds, and that the test has been accurate for the four babies born so far.

One mother-to-be of three sons says that although Baby Gender Mentor told her to expect another boy, four ultrasounds indicate a girl is on the way. Another mom expecting a son, according to Baby Gender Mentor, found out through amniocentesis that she is having a daughter.

Fetus gender test being sold online generates skepticism
St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Michael Sorkin
Illinois Attorney General

State attorney general investigates Baby Gender Mentor retailer for consumer fraud

Maureen — Mon, 10 Oct 2005 10:44:00 GMT

The Illinois state attorney general has opened an investigation into sales of the Baby Gender Mentor prenatal DNA gender test by PregnancyStore.com.

Our office will be trying to gather information about the role of the company in the sale of the product and also whether or not there have been any consumer fraud laws broken.

Illinois attorney general spokesperson on NPR

One Florida couple were told by Acu-Gen to expect a boy, but learned by amniocentesis that their baby is a girl. The father-to-be was upset when the result was explained as a "vanishing twin" -- even though a previous ultrasound had ruled out twins -- and said it was like being told "you had a baby conceived and it died... I thought that that was very distressing for them to present it in that way".

NPR reporter Nell Boyce also reveals that complaints about the test have been filed with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

Questions raised over accuracy of gender test
NPR (Full audio online)
Illinois Attorney General Office
Federal Trade Commission (FTC)

Attorneys investigate potential case against Acu-Gen

Maureen — Tue, 04 Oct 2005 02:01:00 GMT

If you're unhappy with your experience with the Acu-Gen Baby Gender Mentor, a law firm in Portland, Oregon is ready to profit from your misfortune.

However, purchasers of Baby Gender Mentor agree to this statement when buying:

You must understand and agree that any liability of Acu-Gen Biolab Inc. and its counselors shall be limited to the purchase price of this kit and price of the lab service. And you will relinquish Acu-Gen Biolab Inc. and mommy’s thinkin’, inc./PregnancyStore.com and its representatives from all responsibilities, either consequential or non-consequential to this kit and service.

PregnancyStore.com

Williams Love O'Leary Craine & Powers P.C.
Baby Gender Mentor Test / Acu-Gen

Ethics and science blogger comments on Baby Gender Mentor

Maureen — Fri, 30 Sep 2005 19:55:00 GMT

Do you [Acu-Gen] know that your test is accurate or don't you? (And by "know" I don't mean "know in your heart of hearts" so much as "know from the results of well-designed and well-conducted scientific studies with sufficiently large sample size that the results are reliable".) Pressed on whether tests of the accuracy had already been performed (as Bonelli claimed) or are currently being performed (as the Acu-Gen email to NPR suggested), the head of Acu-Gen, Chang Ming Wang, was evasive.

"Doctor Free-Ride, Ph.D."

In his interesting blog about "unexpected and unexplored connections", the Doc makes some excellent points about Acu-Gen's lack of credible supporting evidence for their claims.

Science, meet capitalism.
Adventures in Ethics and Science Blog

NPR and The Boston Globe want to hear about your Acu-Gen or PregnancyStore.com experience

Maureen — Fri, 30 Sep 2005 10:58:00 GMT

Due to response to yesterday's story on NPR, reporter Nell Boyce is asking to hear from those who have had an experience with Acu-Gen or PregnancyStore.com. (Click the "Email Us Your Story" link on this page.)

NPR Baby Gender Mentor story

The Boston Globe is also preparing an upcoming story on Baby Gender Mentor:

Carey Goldberg, The Boston Globe

NPR Radio investigates Baby Gender Mentor accuracy claims

Maureen — Thu, 29 Sep 2005 11:05:00 GMT

NPR's "Morning Edition" today features an extensive discussion about Baby Gender Mentor's accuracy claims. Two mothers who have posted here about their results are interviewed: Danielle, a mother who was told by Acu-Gen to expect her third boy but who has had numerous ultrasounds showing a girl; and Heather, whose Baby Gender Mentor result was boy/girl twins, but is expecting only one baby.

With Acu-Gen, the test's maker, offering little proof of its claims, anecdotal evidence of women with conflicting predictions worries Diana Bianchi. She's an expert on fetal DNA at Tufts University whose work is cited on Acu-Gen's Web site as proof that there's science behind the test.

NPR

You can hear the complete report on NPR's Web site (link below).

Critics Question Accuracy of Fetus Sex Test
NPR
Danielle's Experience with Baby Gender Mentor
In-Gender.com Blog
Doctors Question Ethics of Baby Gender Test
NPR's original coverage of Baby Gender Mentor, 30-JUN-05

Canada's largest news magazine questions Baby Gender Mentor accuracy

Maureen — Tue, 27 Sep 2005 12:33:00 GMT

Concerns about the accuracy of Baby Gender Mentor, a test claiming to reveal an unborn baby's gender with virtually perfect accuracy just 5 weeks into pregnancy, are raised in this week's issue of Canada's Macleans weekly news magazine.

The test's accuracy has been called into question since NBC's popular morning show introduced it to millions. Acu-Gen says the success rate is based on more than 20,000 test cases, but so far the company has not substantiated its claims by publishing its result for peer review. And recently, pregnancy websites that host discussion forums have been filled with postings from angry and desperate moms-to-be who've received one result from Acu-Gen and an opposite result from their doctor.

Maclean's

Danielle, who is expecting her third child in December and has chronicled her experience with Baby Gender Mentor here on In-Gender.com, says, "I just wish I had never heard of the test."

Fears of sex selection: Ethical and accuracy concerns surround a gender-testing kit for mothers-to-be
Maclean's Canada
Danielle's experience with Baby Gender Mentor
In-Gender.com

The Baby Gender Mentor Double-Money-Back Guarantee

Maureen — Thu, 22 Sep 2005 13:29:00 GMT

Just what ARE the conditions to the 200% money back guarantee promised by Baby Gender Mentor if your test does in fact turn out to be inaccurate? That's the question on several pregnancy boards this week, as more women report having repeated ultrasounds that show their baby's gender does not match the Baby Gender Mentor result.

The Baby Gender Mentor Web site makes this promise about their 200% guarantee.

Baby Gender Mentor Web site

I think most women expect that, if the gender of the baby they give birth to doesn't match the Baby Gender Mentor result, they're entitled to that 200% refund. That's the information Baby Gender Mentor is supposed to provide -- what color to paint the nursery, and what gender to expect to pop out of the birth canal.

But what about this condition?

...in the advent of a miscarriage or reabsorption of the one of the twins, no refunds will be granted

Baby Gender Mentor Web site

Miscarriage. Given how early in pregnancy Baby Gender Mentor may be used, it is a sad inevitability that some of these pregnancies will end in miscarriage. If the baby's gender cannot be determined, I do not see any reason why Acu-Gen should be expected to refund the fee, since the service was performed. However, one woman has reported that, after her early miscarriage, Acu-Gen did kindly refund her lab fee.

Vanishing Twins. It's the vague "readsorption of a twin" clause in that statement that has many women questioning the validity of the guarantee.

Who decides whether a vanishing twin ever existed? If there is no evidence -- except for the Baby Gender Mentor test -- that a twin ever existed, is this this just a loophole to explain away every incorrect result?

In fact, the vanishing twin theory can only account for an incorrect BOY result. In this case, it could be possible that the mother was carrying boy/girl twins at the time she took the Baby Gender Mentor test. The male DNA was detected, causing a boy result. However, the boy baby then perished, while the girl survived. (A vanishing twin cannot account for an incorrect GIRL result.)

The president of the company selling Baby Gender Mentor has assured us, though, that the 200% guarantee will be honored for an incorrect result, regardless of any theory about a vanishing twin.

All vanishing twin cases will still be covered under our 200% guarantee as usual.

Sherry Bonelli, President of PregnancyStore, on In-Gender.com

It sounds to me like Sherry is saying PregnancyStore is going to do the right thing, and honor their 200% guarantee without resorting to the vanishing twin loophole. If you give birth to a baby and the gender does not match your Baby Gender Mentor result, you should expect to receive double your money back, period.

Since Acu-Gen has confirmed that this test is 99.9% accurate, that 1 in 1,000 that is not should be refunded without any quibble.

By the way: If you do request a refund, some parents have warned against sending a baby's birth certificate (as proof of gender) because of concerns about privacy or identity theft. Before you send a copy of a birth certificate, black out any information which is not necessary, which should only be last name, gender, and date of birth.

Danielle's 4th ultrasound: GIRL

Maureen — Tue, 13 Sep 2005 11:35:00 GMT

Four ultrasounds say girl, but two Baby Gender Mentor tests say boy. Will Danielle be bringing home a Christmas baby in pink or blue?

See Danielle's blog for her latest update and ultrasound pictures.

PregnancyStore president comments on Baby Gender Mentor post

Maureen — Sun, 11 Sep 2005 13:40:00 GMT

Sherry Bonelli of PregnancyStore.com, retailer of Acu-Gen's Baby Gender Mentor, has posted a comment to my article comparing Baby Gender Mentor with ultrasound results, and raised some questions I'd like to address.

What are Maureen's "hidden agenda" and "ulterior motives"?

My "agenda" is on the top of every page of this Web site: that bit about the "straight truth". You'll see it in bold print on my home page:

I'll tell you the straight truth... because I'm not trying to sell you anything.

Maureen

At the risk of sounding cheesy, I'll say that it's more than my "motive", it's my mission to be an impartial source of information on a topic where there's precious little objectivity to be found, mostly because everybody else IS trying to sell something.

But even if you don't believe any of that, from a practical standpoint, where is there any profit in it for me, either way? Let's look at two possible outcomes when the "truth will out" and the babies in question are born:

Baby Gender Mentor turns out to be right in every case. The result? Maureen looks foolish for ever questioning this "foolproof" test.
Baby Gender Mentor turns out to be wrong in some of these cases. The result? Fame and fortune for Maureen! No, not really. I don't have any competing product to sell. I will simply have the unfortunate task of writing, Sorry, this is yet another case of, Don't drink the Kool-Aid.

And if it turns out to be the second case, I will be very sad and disappointed. I would much rather report that this product is the real deal. Sherry Bonelli has been widely quoted as saying, "more than half of expectant parents want to know the baby's sex in advance". Well, among my compatriots who visit this Web site, that ratio is a lot higher. For those who have endured 6 months on the "girl diet", or spent $20,000 to get pregnant using MicroSort, "want to know" is a gigantic understatement. "Dying to know" or "obsessing night and day" might be closer to the truth. And I'm one of this group, I'll frankly admit; I was dying to know my baby's gender before the second line on the pregnancy test barely had a chance to show up.

I would love to be able to tell my readers, "Now YOU can choose the time to learn your baby's gender, and with absolute certainty! No more second-guessing the ultrasound, no more silly Draino test or Chinese calendar nonsense, it's the END of the 20-WEEK-WAIT!"

If it turns out that Baby Gender Mentor can make good on its promise, that 99.9% of these babies pop out of the birth canal with gender matching the Baby Gender Mentor result, then I will strongly recommend this service on this Web site, because my readers will want to know about it.

The science behind Baby Gender Mentor

The science, technology and fundamental principle behind the Baby Gender Mentor are totally new and novel -- unlike anything else that's out there or published to date.

Sherry Bonelli

("New and novel" but proven in a 14 year trial?)

I don't think any rational person would expect a science that is new, novel, and unpublished to be blindly accepted without question. A product that is launched to the public without first passing muster in the scientific community is certainly open to skepticism. How can any consumer afford not to be wary of fantastic claims? If I believed every claim a company printed on their box, I'd be sitting here waiting for my Ab-Energizer to effortlessly melt away my unwanted pounds, while a magic "better than Botox" cream erased all my wrinkles.

Yet any question about Baby Gender Mentor is regarded as some kind of fraud or "conspiracy", rather than an honest effort to evaluate a new product. Valid and reasonable inquiries are met with vagueness and outright paranoia, and even name-calling.

Any medical person or scientist who claims to know how the test is done is not true and undoubtedly wrong.

Sherry Bonelli

Well, I'm neither, but I can read the studies listed on the PregnancyStore Web site, and draw the conclusion that Acu-Gen is detecting cell-free fetal DNA in maternal blood.

I have also noticed that the description of this test has been completely changed.

Originally, the test claimed only to detect Y-chromosome-specific DNA; Y-DNA indicates a male pregnancy, and in its absence, a female pregnancy is assumed. Of course I am not privy to Acu-Gen's secrets, but it is fairly obvious to infer that this test could be done using PCR to amplify a Y-specific sequence, such as SRY or DYS1 or other genes. This isn't a breakthrough; rather, it's a well-documented procedure using standard equipment. (The idea of providing this service in an at-home kit, however, is novel.) At that time I concluded, and posted on this Web site, that the science definitely looked valid, although I had reservations about detecting fetal DNA in the mother's blood so early in pregnancy that the placenta had not even developed yet.

The new claim, however, goes far beyond this, stating that both "fetus-originated" X and Y chromosome sequences can be detected. This is something completely different. I can speculate on a couple of ways to do this -- by identifying DNA through epigenetic markers; or looking for X-sequences that don't match either of the mother's two X chromosomes. Such techniques would have great potential for prenatal diagnosis, and so I hope this is true.

"Unsubstantiated statistics"

...none of the statistics and legality of the allegations can either be substantiated or stand the trial of time...

Sherry Bonelli

There are no "allegations" in my article. There is simply a comparison of results and a question:

What do you think is going on here? Is the ultrasound wrong, or Baby Gender Mentor? Only time -- and birth -- will tell.

Maureen

If there is no doubt that Baby Gender Mentor will be completely vindicated by "the trial of time", why is this question so threatening? I would think any retailer, who has enjoyed such a bonanza of free publicity as this product has received, would be laughing all the way to the bank, thinking of the day soon when all doubts will be resolved and Baby Gender Mentor will be proven correct in every single case, and all of the naysayers will look like crackpots who probably think the Moon landing is a hoax, too. And how Maureen will have nothing but a nice illustration of how inaccurate ultrasounds really are at predicting a baby's gender.

Our clients... have the right to contact Acu-Gen directly to resolve the confusion instead of being part of the unsubstantiated statistics at this website.

Sherry Bonelli

It is correct that the pregnancies I have listed are "unsubstantiated" and anecdotal. I do not claim to be running a clinical trial.

But here is another unsubstantiated statistic: Acu-Gen's 14-year trial testing 20,000 women with 99.9% accuracy.

A documented medical trial would provide information like this: "We tested (number) of women between the __th and __th week of pregnancy. The women were __ years old and this was their __th pregnancy. We conducted this research in (city) and we recruited women (how). We confirmed our results (how). Pregnancies resulted in (boys, girls, multiples, miscarriages)."

I repeatedly questioned Acu-Gen for ANY details about this astonishingly successful trial, and got only: "this service has been running in Asia for 14 years". (Raising a whole new set of questions I won't delve into here.)

As much as Acu-Gen is convinced that their own tests are valid and substantiated, I am convinced that the pregnancies I have listed here are real and substantiated and a realistic test group. Only a few of these women even know that I have taken note of their Baby Gender Mentor and ultrasound results, which they have posted publicly just as pregnant women everywhere discuss the outcome of every possible gender prediction from ultrasound to old wives' tales.

On the other hand, women who have sought out this Web site specifically because of their conflicting ultrasound and Baby Gender Mentor results, are excluded from these totals. The statistics do NOT include Danielle, Mandy, and others, simply because I didn't know about their pregnancy before they got conflicting results. The only women I have included in these totals are women who have previously posted or blogged about their pregnancy, sharing everything from morning sickness to extra bathroom trips in the middle the night. They may not be a statistically perfect universe, but they seem undoubtedly to be real pregnant women who have absolutely no motive beyond just wanting to know their unborn baby's gender -- exactly what Baby Gender Mentor is promising.

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