Question:medium
A G5P4 woman comes for routine sonography for the first time, she has early four daughters and wants to have a boy this time and asks for sex determination. To abide by the above depicted guidelines, what will you choose:
A G5P4 woman comes for routine sonography for the first time, she has early four daughters and wants to have a boy this time and asks for sex determination. To abide by the above depicted guidelines, what will you choose:
Show Hint
Recall the PC-PNDT Act, 1994 \u2014 the antenatal scan is allowed, but disclosing fetal sex is a crime.
Updated On: Jun 22, 2026
- Will check routine ANC and sex for developmental ABN and do not reveal gender to patient
- Will check routine ANC and sex for developmental ABN and do reveal gender to patient
- Do reveal gender if a girl
- Check only routine ANC, do not check sex
Show Solution
The Correct Option is A
Solution and Explanation
Frame this as a medico-legal decision under the PC-PNDT Act, 1994.
The ethical/legal rule first: The Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques Act was enacted to stop sex selection and female feticide. Under it, two things are simultaneously true: (1) a clinically indicated antenatal ultrasound is perfectly legal and even expected as part of good obstetric care, and (2) disclosing the sex of the fetus to anyone is a criminal offence.
Apply it to the scenario: The patient is a G5P4 with four daughters who openly wants a male child and asks for sex determination - a textbook sex-selection request. The correct professional response is to carry on with the normal antenatal evaluation, including the anomaly scan that screens for structural/developmental fetal abnormalities, while firmly withholding any information about the baby's sex.
Eliminate the unsafe choices: Telling her the gender outright is illegal. Telling her 'only if it is a girl' is still revealing the sex and would enable a sex-selective termination, so it is equally barred. Declining to scan at all over-corrects - the law never prohibits a medically justified ultrasound; it only prohibits sex disclosure.
Consequences if violated: Disclosing fetal sex under the PC-PNDT Act is punishable with imprisonment and fine, and on conviction the registered medical practitioner can be reported to the State Medical Council for suspension or removal from the register. The Act also requires maintenance of records (Form F), display of the 'sex determination prohibited' notice, and prohibits even advertising sex-selection services - underlining that the law's whole thrust is to block disclosure, not legitimate antenatal care.
Therefore: Perform routine ANC, screen for developmental abnormalities, and do not reveal the gender.
$Answer = A$
The ethical/legal rule first: The Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques Act was enacted to stop sex selection and female feticide. Under it, two things are simultaneously true: (1) a clinically indicated antenatal ultrasound is perfectly legal and even expected as part of good obstetric care, and (2) disclosing the sex of the fetus to anyone is a criminal offence.
Apply it to the scenario: The patient is a G5P4 with four daughters who openly wants a male child and asks for sex determination - a textbook sex-selection request. The correct professional response is to carry on with the normal antenatal evaluation, including the anomaly scan that screens for structural/developmental fetal abnormalities, while firmly withholding any information about the baby's sex.
Eliminate the unsafe choices: Telling her the gender outright is illegal. Telling her 'only if it is a girl' is still revealing the sex and would enable a sex-selective termination, so it is equally barred. Declining to scan at all over-corrects - the law never prohibits a medically justified ultrasound; it only prohibits sex disclosure.
Consequences if violated: Disclosing fetal sex under the PC-PNDT Act is punishable with imprisonment and fine, and on conviction the registered medical practitioner can be reported to the State Medical Council for suspension or removal from the register. The Act also requires maintenance of records (Form F), display of the 'sex determination prohibited' notice, and prohibits even advertising sex-selection services - underlining that the law's whole thrust is to block disclosure, not legitimate antenatal care.
Therefore: Perform routine ANC, screen for developmental abnormalities, and do not reveal the gender.
$Answer = A$
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