Proof in the new year that while you can take the desi out of the des, you can’t take the des out of the desi.

Recent research has shown that the desire for a male child, well -known in Asia , follows immigrants here in the USA too.

A Columbia University study suggests that Chinese, Indian and Korean immigrants have been using medical technology, most likely including abortion, to assure their later children were boys. And a soon-to-be published analysis of birth records by a University of Texas economist estimates there were 2,000 “missing girls” from 1991 to 2004 among immigrant families from China and India living in the United States — children never born because their parents chose to have sons instead.(link)

While the study does indicate that female infanticide and gender selective abortion is NOT practiced by Asian immigrants (one is thankful for these small mercies!) use of gender selection methods such as PGD – preimplantation genetic diagnosis- where embryos are harvested and then re-implanted based on gender is on the rise. Note that this is perfectly legal in the USA . The law does not prohibit gender specific implantation.

Indian law specifically does prohibit even revealing the sex of the child via ultrasound. Sadly, this had to be done because of the shocking imbalance in male to female ratios due to the son-madness prevalent across the des:

The normal ratio of boys to girls at birth is about 105 boys per 100 girls. But in parts of India and China, as ultrasound and other medical technology became available to reveal the sex of unborn children, the ratio of boys to girls aged 4 or younger jumped from 104 boys per 100 girls in 1981 to about 108 boys in 2001, according to a recent United Nations Population Fund report.

I have heard anecdotal evidence of how this law is circumvented. In some parts of North India, an exclamation of “Jai Mata Di!” by the ultrasound technician after seeing the ultrasound is a clear declaration that the fetus is female. Other stories I have heard state that the color of the ink used to sign the reports is a subtle indicator of the sex of the child – red ink indicates a girl child on the way ( who unfortunately may never be born!) .

And all this for what? Because of cultural beliefs that dictate that only a son will provide for his parents in their old age , only a son can demand dowry and for the Hindus – only a son can perform funeral rites.

Dr. Suresh Nayak , a doctor based in San Jose California who offers PGD targeted at desis defends his choice in India currents thus:

In India Currents, Nayak defended his services as preferable to abortion.

“Being in the obstetrics-gynecology field, I see a fair number of couples terminating pregnancies of the ‘undesired sex’ after doing ultrasounds and amniocentesis,” Nayak wrote.

“It is sad that the Indian culture that we love and are so proud of also has men believing that if they don’t have a son to perform their last rites, their soul will never rest in peace.

“Whose fault is it for making them believe that?”

Whose fault indeed?

We can all get together and blame the laws of Manu.

Or we can take a good look inside ourselves and wonder why education, immigration and exposure to so many new influences cannot shake the age old belief that moksha is only possible through the birth of a son.

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