Sale of baby gender test paper on WeChat illegal
Ecns.cn, May 6, 2016
A lawyer has warned the sale of baby gender test products on WeChat, a popular mobile social networking app run by Internet giant Tencent, is against Chinese law, local newspaper City Times reports.
Baby gender test paper is sold on WeChat. (File photo)
Advertisements on WeChat claim tests can determine a baby's gender in five minutes using only a sample of morning urine from a mother pregnant over six weeks.
A search with keywords "fetus gender test" on WeChat turns up many public accounts that tout these products.
One seller said there are a number of test strips made in China and abroad to choose from, with prices ranging from 80 yuan ($12) to 300 yuan.
The results, based on hormone concentrations, can be 99 percent accurate, higher than an ultrasound exam, the promotion claims.
But medical experts urge parents to be wary of online marketers that claim to be able to figure out fetal gender using just a woman's urine.
Zhang Zhen, a lawyer with Ruizhen Law Firm in Yunnan Province, said China has banned non-medical baby sex determination in the hopes of reducing gender-based abortions.
The law levies fines from 5,000 yuan to 30,000 yuan on those who assist in non-medical sex determination.
It certainly violates the law if the test leads to more gender-based abortions, Zhang warned.
Chinese society has traditionally preferred boys to girls.
A woman in Kunming, capital of Yunnan, said she gave up the idea of the test due to objections from her family.
