Tampa's ABC News affiliate reveals that no government agency regulates sales of gender tests like the Baby Gender Mentor. The FDA does not require oversight of the test because it's a "home brew" -- a test sold as a service.
Linda Hurtado reports that women are banding together to file a class action lawsuit, alleging that their Baby Gender Mentor result was wrong, and that the company won't honor their promise of a refund.
Acu-Gen, however, maintains that their baby gender test works as advertised. Acu-Gen's president, Chang Wang, says, "We have done thousands of tests. I think if you want to do a fair comparison, do a fair report, you should check thousands of them before you make any comment."
I have to disagree. The 99.9% accuracy claimed by Acu-Gen (never mind statements about "never" being wrong) means that only 1 in 1,000 customers should get a wrong result. Yet over 70 women have reported here on In-Gender.com that their gender test was wrong, according to ultrasound results, not to mention numerous reports on other pregnancy forums. For these 70 cases to represent the 0.1% error rate claimed by Acu-Gen, sales of at least 70,000 kits would be needed. In November, the kit's retailer, Sherry Bonelli, stated that 4,000 kits had been sold, with half those being sold in the first few weeks after the product debuted on NBC's Today Show in late June.
Although Bonelli maintains that ultrasound is unreliable at determining a baby's gender, so far over 20 women on this site alone have delivered babies that confirm their ultrasound was right, and Baby Gender Mentor was wrong.
- Experts call for regulation of baby gender tests
ABC News, Tampa, Florida
(Story and video) - Baby gender test spawns lawsuit
ABC News, Tampa, Florida
(Video link) - Baby Gender Mentor Class Action Lawsuit Investigation
Gainey and McKenna Law Firm
Includes questionnaire for Baby Gender Mentor customers
Clik here to view.
