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Prenatal Gender Selection: Five Million Daughters Never Born

2021-08-03T19:09:57.045Z


Female fetuses are often aborted in some countries. According to a study, prenatal gender selection could prevent millions of girls from being born by 2030. The researchers warn of the social consequences.


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Ultrasound examination (symbol picture): Will it be a boy?

Photo: John Fedele / Blend Images / Tetra images RF / Getty Images

A son is worth more than a daughter - this attitude is common in some parts of the world.

And it will be clearly noticeable in the birth statistics in the coming years, as a new study describes.

An international team of researchers analyzed data sets from more than three billion births.

The study was published in the journal BMJ.

Of course, no fewer girls are conceived.

The reason for the decline is a socially rooted disdain for girls and women, a cultural preference for male offspring.

In China or India, parents are more likely to choose not to have a girl

The path that makes this decline possible is called prenatal sex selection.

Expectant parents can find out the sex of the fetus in the first few weeks of pregnancy, for example through an ultrasound examination.

In certain countries - two examples are India and China - they then decide proportionally more often against the child and in favor of an abortion if it is a girl.

In the past 40 years, the number of sex-related abortions has increased in several countries in Southeast Europe and South and East Asia, the researchers write.

They modeled different scenarios.

Should the abortion rate of female fetuses develop as statistics suggest today, a minus of 4.7 million female births can be expected by 2030.

Can laws change gender norms?

A shortage of girl births goes hand in hand with a surplus of men - with as yet unknown social and economic effects on the countries concerned.

It is conceivable that in societies with fewer girl births, anti-social behavior and the propensity for violence will increase.

The preference for male offspring could also trigger "marriage pressure".

The authors of the study are therefore calling for three things: First, better data collection so that the extent of gender selection practices can be quantified and assessed.

Second, a broad and diversified information campaign, because education can also help ensure that a girl is given the same value as a boy.

On their third point, the scientists write: "A long-term goal is to influence gender norms, which are the core of harmful practices such as prenatal gender selection." This also requires a legal framework that guarantees gender equality.

vki / AFP

Source: spiegel

All tech articles on 2021-08-03

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