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Human Reproduction, Vol. 17, No. 2, 485-489, February 2002
© 2002 European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology

Maternal serum HCG is higher in the presence of a female fetus as early as week 3 post-fertilization

Yuval Yaron1,3,4,5, Ofer Lehavi3, Avi Orr-Urtreger1,4, Ilan Gull3, Joseph B. Lessing3,4, Ami Amit2,4 and Dalit Ben-Yosef2

1 Prenatal Diagnosis Unit, Genetic Institute, 2 In vitro Fertilization Unit and 3 Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Lis Maternity Hospital, Sourasky Medical Center, Tel Aviv, affiliated to 4 Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Israel

BACKGROUND: Maternal serum HCG (MSHCG) is higher when the fetus is a female than when it is male. This has been demonstrated in the second and third trimesters of pregnancy, and recently at 10–14 weeks gestation. In this study we assessed whether this gender-related difference can be detected as early as week 3 post-fertilization. METHODS: The IVF setting was chosen because it provides precise dating of gestational age and early sonography for the number of gestational sacs. The study included 347 IVF cycles from 335 patients. Only pregnancies with a single implanted embryo that resulted in a single live birth of known gender were included. MSHCG was measured on days 14–20 post-fertilization, and levels were expressed as gestational age-corrected multiples of the median (MoMs). The log10 MSHCG MoMs were compared according to fetal gender. RESULTS: MSHCG levels were significantly higher (18.5%) in week 3 post-fertilization in the presence of a female fetus (P < 0.0002). CONCLUSION: Because a fetal gender-related difference in MSHCG can be demonstrated as early as week 3 post-fertilization, the difference may be attributed to placental factors and not to the effects of the fetal hypothalamic–hypophyseal–gonadal axis.

Key words: fetal gender/IVF/maternal serum HCG

5 To whom correspondence should be addressed at: Prenatal Diagnosis Unit, Genetic Institute, Sourasky Medical Center, 6 Weizmann St. Tel Aviv, 64239, Israel. E-mail: yyaron{at}tasmc.health.gov.il

Submitted on July 25, 2001


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