Parents will soon be able to determine the gender of their unborn accurately at early stages of pregnancy, a new study finds. Ultrasound performed in the second trimester had long been the easiest method to detect the gender of the fetus.

In cases, in which the determination of the gender needed to be performed in earlier stages due to medical reasons, however, invasive tests such as amniocentesis, associated with a small risk of miscarriage, were inevitable.

According to the study published in Obstetrics & Gynecology, the new maternal blood test, performed as early as the seventh week of pregnancy, can accurately determine the gender of the fetus.