Gender Selection Through Prenatal Diagnosis and Abortion

Thus, a woman lives under multiple contradictions: she must have a smaller family to appear modern, produce sons to gain respect, but not admit that she believes in this cultural tradition (Kanaaneh 234). This has led to a variety offamily planning methods that are supposed to promote the birthing of sons. Interestingly enough, in a society that contributes high status to modernity, people will try old-fashioned methods of having sons. While there are some ‘scientific’ beliefs to producing sons, and sometimes the man is given blame, more often than not, women are the ones who partake in traditional methods to becoming pregnant with a boy. For instance, a few women visit a shrine or get a sheikh to write an amulet (Kanaaneh 242).

In the beginning of this article, Andrew Reiner described his experience with having a son. He stated, “I was faced with one of my biggest fears about parenthood: having a son” (Reiner, 2016, para. 6). Reiner elaborated on the growing trend of parents wanting female children instead of males. The article mentioned that adoptive parents are even willing to pay an average of $16,000 more in finalization cost for a girl instead of a boy (Reiner, 2016, para. 10). Reiner also noted that the boys-will-be-boys behavior does not originate with them (Reiner, 2016, para. 12). Instead, it is a product of their environment. He cited “... parents tend to touch infant boys less often and more roughly than infant daughters and that daughters are handled more gently and protectively… (Reiner, 2016, para. 12)” This displayed how societal norms shape behavior attributes that can be seen as non advantageous. Towards the end of the article, Reiner emphasized that we should empower our daughters and empower our sons with the same emotional literacy skill set and expansive worldview we teach our daughter (Reiner, 2016, para. 18). He finished the article with a short anecdote about how his son only wanted his attention and that is why he was acting out.

I have chosen to use an article called, "Canada is a Complicit Partner in Sex-Selection Abortion," written by Andrea Mrozek. I found this article on the Huffington Post website. The author, Andrea Mrozek, is a program director at Cardus Family and founding director of an organization called, ProWomanProLife. She has written many powerful pieces focusing on childcare, feminism, women 's issues, education, and how the family affects different aspects of society. Not only is she a very influential author, but she also speaks about these topics at various events. Within the ProWomanProLife program she acts as a spokesperson, speaking out about pro life. The following quote from Mrozek gives a pretty accurate description of her viewpoint on abortion. "Top-heavy legislation, that might criminalize abortion, for example, gets us nowhere with a culture of women who believe abortion to be anything from a necessary evil, to a compassionate act, to completely neutral. We must be able to discuss the issue with complete and total freedom, and to highlight how uncompassionate abortion actually is, from a woman’s perspective.” (Mrozek, 2016)

“The preference for male children is further emphasized by the finding that parents are more likely to continue having children if they have only girls than if they have only boys. Reasons given by women for their preference for sons are to please their husbands, to carry on the family name, and to be a companion to the husband.” (Witt, n.p.) There are also many more pieces of important evidence.

Up until now, there has always been a preference for sons. The yearning to give birth to a male heir has been so overwhelming that in South Korea, many women who failed to bear sons were treated poorly and even abused. Women have committed suicide or have been murdered for not being able to bear sons. Men have tied off their left testicle in hopes of producing male heirs. People have even

It seems that many middle class and lower/working class families do not want to have a child that is a boy, they instead prefer a girl. This article explains why these parents are truly hoping to have little girls and breaking away from traditional norms that preferred boys. Having a male child is a fear amongst certain social classes in the United States. This fear is due to the expected gender roles that society expects from males, the normal aggressive behavior and boys don’t cry roles.

Medical professionals today can screen for certain genetic traits (genetic diseases and sex) with in vitro fertilization and preimplantation genetic diagnosis to obtain a healthy child, and reproductive technology continues to improve. With this in mind, the question arises whether sex selection is ethical. Julian Savulescu, Uehiro Professor of Practical Ethics at Oxford University, argues that sex selection is moral, based on his ethical principle of Procreative Beneficence: that “couples (or single reproducers) should select the child, of the possible children they could have, who is expected to have the best life, or at least as good a life as the others, based on the relevant, available information” [Savulescu 1]. Savulescu claims

The WHO states that there are three core motivations for engaging in sex determination and sex selection which include “medical reasons such as preventing the birth of children affected or at risk of X-linked disorders; family balancing reasons where couples choose to have a child of one sex because they already have one or more children of the other sex; and gender preference reason often in favor of male offspring stemming from cultural, social, and economic bias in favor of male children and as a result of policies requiring couples to limit reproduction to one child, as in China.” In countries such as India and China, it is apparent that women can be harmed by sex selection

males to be precious and more prestigious than the females. The birth of a boy

Parent understand that their girls are a burden and their sons are a gift, and this is what their sons and daughters grow up believing. The dowry placed on girls plays greatly into the sex-selected abortion rate in India. Boys are plainly and simply a better financial investment. Boys will not cost the parents money for marriage, in fact, with a marriage, they are guaranteed to make the parents money. Parents forced with the decision to have a girl and deal with the financial consequences, or abort and hope and pray for better luck in the gender of their child next time around. Quite often they chose the

As science advances, it is becoming very common for parents from all over the world to select their babies gender by abortion. However, this trend is unacceptable and detrimental to the natural balance of things, society and the future of humanity.

Abortion is a controversial issue in many countries all the time and there are always two sides of abortion. Pro-life supporters believe that abortion is immoral, so they argue that it should be illegal because an unborn baby is life. However, they do not figure out that woman who is on the inevitable situation such as infection, rape, or extreme poverty would still have the abortion even though the abortion is illegal. Many women die due to unsafe abortion, which is illegal and performed by uneducated people. Therefore, the abortion should be legal to protect the life of ‘alive women’ because women’s life is equal to human’s right. I would like to provide more affirmative bases to support abortion in this paper.

In the article "Gendercide" (2010), the author focuses on the alarming rate at which parents are aborting or killing baby girls in the attempt to have a baby boy. Practically world wide, there is a preference for sons. One country highly affected by this ideology is China. With the one-child limit in China, the desire for males rather than females is heightened. Although, it is not just this rule that contributes to the demand for baby boys. Many countries prefer a son because of old traditions. In many areas of the world, when a daughter married, she left her family and no one was left to take care of the parents when they aged. Having a son also used to be notably beneficial economically for a family. In most cases, many traditions that favored

With new technologies available everyday, it seems almost as if we can customize our children. Reproduction is no longer an outcome of random and inherited genes, but now it’s a process of creating the child that we want to have. Fertility clinics are in debate as to whether or not it is ethical to be able to determine the sex of our children. Some view this as a valid option, while others see it as another step down the road to designer babies. But how far is too far? That is a question that we can only answer for ourselves. While this article remains unbiased, we are able to form our own opinion after seeing the pros and cons of both sides.

The preference for male children is due to three major reasons. One is the economic value of having sons. Sons are more likely than daughters to provide family labour on the farm or in a family business, earn wages, and support their parents during old age. Upon marriage, a son brings a daughter-in-law into his family, and she provides additional help around the house as well as she brings riches in the form of dowry payments. Another important advantage of having sons is their social cultural utility. In India patriarchal family system, having one son is essential for the continuation of the family line, and many sons provide high status to the family. Vanaja Dhruvarajan says, "When a women becomes a mother, especially the mother of a son, her status goes up in her new home for having helped perpetuate the family" (87) Finally, the utility of having sons comes from the important religious functions that only sons can provide. In Hindu tradition, sons are needed to do the funeral of their deceased parents and to help in the salvation of their souls.