Alarming Number of Baby Girls Die in India Each Year

Many people are aware that in Indian cultures male children are regarded as superior to their sisters. For thousands of years parents hoped for boys, who were considered more useful and honorable than girls. Because girls were considered inferior, many were abandoned or even killed in ancient times. With modern technology and social advancements, one would think that the gender preference would wane; gender equality has swept through the world but with new technology comes new and shocking ways for Indian parents to make sure they get a baby boy.

A study conducted by Prabhat Jha of St Michael's Hospital and Rajesh Kumar of the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Research in Chandigarh, India indicates that in India an estimated 10 million female births have been lost to abortion and sex selection in the last 20 years alone.

These staggering numbers come after the use of ultra sound imaging became common to tell parents the sex of their unborn child. A survey of 1.1 million Indian households conducted in 1998 revealed that 500,000 female pregnancies are lost every year. Despite advancements in medicine that allow more pregnancies than ever to result in a live, healthy baby, Indian parents are still choosing to end female pregnancies in order to have a male child. At current rates of 500,000 losses per year, it is easy to estimate that since the use of ultra sound became widespread approximately 20 years ago, 10 million female babies have been lost.

No one knows what type of impact this practice will have on Indian culture in the future, but already alarming trends indicate that there is an unnatural balance of males to females in the Indian population. In the populations of most countries, women make up a slightly higher number than men. But in India this is very different.

In 2001, there were only 933 female births to every 1000 male births. This doesn't seem like a huge difference but left unchecked numbers like these mean huge imbalances of gender in Indian populations. Already many Indian men have experienced the consequences of reduced female births, in many areas, especially rural ones, Indian men have had a hard time finding a bride because there are so few women available.

Because the boy preference dates back so far into Indian history, it is hard to tell if the practice of aborting, abandoning, or even killing female babies will ever stop. The idea that boys are better probably stems from ancient Indian societies that relied heavily on agriculture; boys were better workers making male lives more valuable than female. These beliefs have somehow carried over into present day and continue to affect life for millions born in India.

Sources:

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