As a fertility doctor, it goes without saying that I will abide by the legal and ethical constraints of my profession. But this is not enough. I also call on others to understand the simplest of principles: Having a daughter is just as beautiful, just as life-affirming, as having a son. We must shake off our harmful social preference for boys — because no more little girls should ever disappear, and no more little boys should have to grow old alone.
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Almost there! Check Mail Now resend activation email. Forgot your password? Send Email Cancel. Activation email sent. Or sign in with:. Search form Search. Yang Yang. Of course, not all families feel that sons will provide the best support.
For example, some of my Chinese acquaintances have expressed the belief that daughters are more self-sacrificing and nurturing and will thus take better care of their aging parents.
While this may be a more positive perception of daughters, it still constrains them to traditional gender roles. Then again, so does America. Carly O'Connell is a young professional in the D. During college, she participated in an intensive language immersion program for a semester in Beijing and upon graduation she spent a year teaching English in Changzhou, China.
She's visited over 15 different Chinese cities. The country has tens of millions of men who are destined to die single. Some fear that the excess will lead to increased sexual violence, general crime and social instability. Yet campaigners see the first signs of hope, as more parents come round to Chen's way of thinking. Official statistics released this summer suggest the sex ratio at birth SRB has fallen slightly for two years running, to just over males in China's population and family planning chief, Dr Li Bin, said it showed the discrepancy "has been preliminarily brought under control"; while experts are more cautious, they agree that the figures offer some hope.
The country's new Five Year Plan sets an ambitious target of cutting the ratio to or by Could China at last be poised to close the sex gap? No one is claiming victory quite yet: in fact, the government has just pledged to get tougher, launching a new drive against sex-selective abortion.
It is increasing safeguards — such as the requirement that two doctors are present at each ultrasound — and toughening punishments.
Institutions, as well as individuals, will be held responsible for breaches; the worst offenders risk having their medical licences withdrawn. But he acknowledges medical staff often find ways to indicate a baby's sex, despite the law. They may nod or shake their head; or use a full stop or comma at the end of medical notes — to indicate that parents have achieved their goal or must continue efforts to have a boy. Other experts fear that cracking down on sex-selective abortion could lead to unsafe, illicit abortions or infanticide if the underlying wishes of the parents remain unchanged.
In other words, the battle for China's baby girls will ultimately depend on changing preferences. But as Li points out, that is a long-term struggle, and society pays a high price in the meantime. The roots of son-preference lie deep in Chinese culture.
Traditionally, the bloodline passes through the male side. Women also "marry out", joining their husband's families and looking after their in-laws, not their own parents. For a long time, a son was your pension. Having a girl was wasteful. Chen's home lies near lush rice paddies, where farmers in wide-brimmed straw hats bend double. The community used to rely on agriculture and believed a boy was necessary for the heaviest work in the fields.
We have a saying, 'The better sons you have, the better life we can have,' because men have more strength and can carry out more work," says Chen. In fact, official policy has adapted to these assumptions. China's strict birth-control rules, introduced just over 30 years ago to curb a soaring population, restrict most couples to one birth.
But there are several exemptions. Ethnic-minority families are allowed more than one child; couples who are both only children are permitted to have two. The most striking example is the exception made for rural households. While their urban counterparts are generally restricted to one birth, rural couples are allowed a second - if their first is a girl. The statistics show just how important producing at least one son is: the sex ratios for second and third births are vastly more skewed than for first children.
When Chen's daughter was born, a little over 30 years ago, the consequences of the ultrasound had yet to be felt in Shengzhou. But by , boys were being born for every girls. Five years later that figure had risen again, to
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