Unwanted female babies

In India, daughters are considered an economic problem, notably because of the cost of ceremonies and dowry. The admissions to hospital of sick boys far exceeds those of girls, in one hospital by a factor of nine to one. Weak baby girls tend to be left at home to die. Tolerance for girl children had been growing until the last decade, when the availability of pre-natal sex determination techniques increased opportunities of control and female foeticide rather than infanticide. A 1991 survey found that 72% of rural couples and 53% of urban couples in India wanted to have at least 2 sons.