The genetic analysis of fetal cells enriched from the blood of pregnant women has been a long-standing goal of those researchers and clinicians who want to use this technology for the development of a non-invasive risk-free method for prenatal diagnosis. Recent large-scale studies, such as the NIH 'NIFTY Study', have reiterated that promise of this approach, but have reinforced also the consensus amongst researchers that current technology is not yet sufficiently advanced to permit routine use. The new observation of cell-free fetal DNA in maternal plasma has been eagerly seized upon by several research groups, who have shown in independent large-scale studies that this technology can be used for the extremely reliable identification of facile fetal genetic traits such as the fetal RhD status. Consequently, this approach has been the first to make the transition from the laboratory 'bench' to the 'bed'.