Sex Selection

Many young mothers are now faced with a soft, covert or sometimes outright demand for the amniocentesis test. “Our family needs a son – don’t worry, it’s all quite simple.”
Thanks to technology, choosing the sex of your child or planning a family has taken a whole new meaning in many parts of Asia. The amniocentesis test – meant to determine the foetus’ potential disabilities – is being used to select and abort female foetuses. What’s wrong with doing so? Why should there be a law against it? Isn’t it natural to want two children of different sexes?

References:

CEHAT: Report – Study of cases registered under the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostics Techniques (Prohibition of Sex Selection) Act in State of Maharashtra, 2008

Tulsi Patel (ed.): Sex-Selective Abortion in India. Gender, Society and New Reproductive Technologies, Sage Publications 2007

Indira Jaising, C. Sathyamala and Asmita Basu: From the Normal to the Abnormal. Preventing Sex Selective Abortions Through the Law, Lawyer’s Collective 2007