Genetic amniocentesis performed at 7-14 weeks of gestation was studied in a series of 138 patients of whom 50 wanted termination of pregnancy (< or = 12 weeks). The material for analysis consisted of 132 samples due to two sampling failures and four samples being handled incorrectly. Forty-eight samples (36 percent) were taken at 7-12 weeks of gestation, mainly transvaginally (36/48:75 percent). The success rate of culture and karyotyping increased with the duration of pregnancy, but was only satisfactory from week 11 onwards. The time until harvest was then 14-15 days. The transvaginal approach is easy to perform and was accepted by the women, but we experienced bacterial or fungal overgrowth in 17 percent of these samples, whereas no infection occurred in the samples taken transabdominally (n = 96). We conclude that genetic amniocentesis is feasible from week 11, but further studies concerning side effects, especially focusing on the procedure-related abortion risk, should be carried out before early amniocentesis is routinely applied.