Just what ARE the conditions to the 200% money back guarantee promised by Baby Gender Mentor if your test does in fact turn out to be inaccurate? That's the question on several pregnancy boards this week, as more women report having repeated ultrasounds that show their baby's gender does not match the Baby Gender Mentor result.
The Baby Gender Mentor Web site makes this promise about their 200% guarantee.
We guarantee that all test results will be 99.9% accurate. If your test results are legitimately incorrect, Baby Gender Mentor warranties a 200% refund of both the laboratory and purchasing expenses. A valid registration number and an original birth certificate are required for the refund.
Baby Gender Mentor Web site
I think most women expect that, if the gender of the baby they give birth to doesn't match the Baby Gender Mentor result, they're entitled to that 200% refund. That's the information Baby Gender Mentor is supposed to provide -- what color to paint the nursery, and what gender to expect to pop out of the birth canal.
But what about this condition?
...in the advent of a miscarriage or reabsorption of the one of the twins, no refunds will be granted
Baby Gender Mentor Web site
Miscarriage. Given how early in pregnancy Baby Gender Mentor may be used, it is a sad inevitability that some of these pregnancies will end in miscarriage. If the baby's gender cannot be determined, I do not see any reason why Acu-Gen should be expected to refund the fee, since the service was performed. However, one woman has reported that, after her early miscarriage, Acu-Gen did kindly refund her lab fee.
Vanishing Twins. It's the vague "readsorption of a twin" clause in that statement that has many women questioning the validity of the guarantee.
Who decides whether a vanishing twin ever existed? If there is no evidence -- except for the Baby Gender Mentor test -- that a twin ever existed, is this this just a loophole to explain away every incorrect result?
In fact, the vanishing twin theory can only account for an incorrect BOY result. In this case, it could be possible that the mother was carrying boy/girl twins at the time she took the Baby Gender Mentor test. The male DNA was detected, causing a boy result. However, the boy baby then perished, while the girl survived. (A vanishing twin cannot account for an incorrect GIRL result.)
The president of the company selling Baby Gender Mentor has assured us, though, that the 200% guarantee will be honored for an incorrect result, regardless of any theory about a vanishing twin.
All vanishing twin cases will still be covered under our 200% guarantee as usual.
Sherry Bonelli, President of PregnancyStore, on In-Gender.com
It sounds to me like Sherry is saying PregnancyStore is going to do the right thing, and honor their 200% guarantee without resorting to the vanishing twin loophole. If you give birth to a baby and the gender does not match your Baby Gender Mentor result, you should expect to receive double your money back, period.
Since Acu-Gen has confirmed that this test is 99.9% accurate, that 1 in 1,000 that is not should be refunded without any quibble.
By the way: If you do request a refund, some parents have warned against sending a baby's birth certificate (as proof of gender) because of concerns about privacy or identity theft. Before you send a copy of a birth certificate, black out any information which is not necessary, which should only be last name, gender, and date of birth.