Sex selection and reproductive freedom

Son Preference, Sex Selection, and the “New” New Reproductive Technologies

“…In China, Taiwan, Korea, and India, a considerable number of studies report that the ultrasound machine is currently being used primarily for sex determination, followed by abortion of female fetuses. In China, for example, the decline in the number of female births compared with male births was initially attributed to a variety of other factors, including lack of registration of female infants, putting up female infants for immediate adoption, and female infanticide (10,12,13,(28)(29)(30). However, studies based on new material about the early availability of advanced ultrasound technology and the massive practice of abortion in China have accentuated the role of sex-selective abortions (10,12,13).…”

“…In the United States, however, some ethicists and constitutional rights experts have adopted an affirmative position on the right to make choices about one's offspring, including to "select" traits such as sex (29). For instance, Jones (60) argues that in the United States, access to sex-selection technologies should receive federal protection.…”

Selective Reproductive Technologies

“…In some countries, therefore-such as in China, India, and Vietnam-boys now significantly outnumber girls. Son preference is embedded in long-standing patriarchal ideologies of gender and kinship, which hold that only sons can undertake vital family functions such as the continuation of family lines, the provision of support for aging parents, and the performance of kinship rituals (Renteln 1992, Gammeltoft 1999, Croll 2000, Bharadwaj 2003. Although such gender ideologies are often challenged by people's everyday experiences (Fong 2002), these traditions remain socially pervasive and symbolically powerful in many Asian societies.…”