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MEDIA CENTER Prenatal Sex Determination and Sex-selective Abortion NEW YORK (12 July 2001) — Now that reliable technology for prenatal sex determination is widely available, there is concern that rural Chinese women may be using ultrasound B-scans to determine the sex of their fetus and ensure the birth of a boy. Chu Junhong interviewed 820 women in one county in central China and found that nearly half of reported pregnancies were subjected to sex determination by ultrasound examination, and nine out of ten of the determined female fetuses in second pregnancies were aborted if the couple's first child was a girl. Chu's analysis, published in the June issue of the Population Council journal Population and Development Review, shows how prenatal sex determination and sex-selective abortion relate to the country's increasing male-to-female sex ratio at birth. The reported sex ratio at birth in China was around 106 males per 100 females in most years in the 1960s and 1970s. The ratio increased after 1980: it was 108.5 in 1981; 110.9 in 1986; 111.3 in 1989; and 111.9 in the first six months of 1990. Three factors are seen as responsible for the rise: (1) increasing underreporting of female births, (2) excess female infant mortality, and (3) increasing incidence of prenatal sex determination and subsequent sex-selective abortion of female fetuses. The claim that sex-selective abortion is an important factor in China's rising sex ratio at birth has not been based on evidence, notes Chu, but on speculation about residuals: sex-selective abortion must be responsible because the abnormal sex ratio cannot be fully explained by the underreporting of female births and excess female infant mortality. "No agreement has been reached on the relative contributions of these factors, particularly on the contributions of prenatal sex selection," Chu notes. Chu designed a questionnaire to assess the prevalence of prenatal sex selection and abortion. The survey started in one village and spread to over 100 villages in five townships of the county. In-depth interviews took place in six villages in three townships of the county. The 820 women surveyed reported 301 induced abortions. Of these, 36 percent (109) were acknowledged to be female sex-selective abortions. The sex ratio of births reported by the women in the survey was much higher than the biological norm of about 105-107 males per 100 females. The sex ratio of children ever born was 125.9 and of living children it was 126.1. "Prenatal sex selection was probably the primary cause, if not the sole cause, for the continuous rise of the sex ratio at birth in the study area in the past decade," Chu maintains. According to Chu, female infant abandonment or infanticide is extremely rare in the county she studied. "Rural families believe in fate: if they do something horrible, they will be punished by unseen forces. Besides, it is easy to arrange for the adoption of unwanted girls," she says. What can China do to stop sex-selective abortion? "More strenuous enforcement of the regulations forbidding prenatal sex determination and sex-selective abortion, and close monitoring of the uses of ultrasound B-scans at hospitals and family planning stations, particularly at private clinics, might change the situation," she says. Noting that it is difficult to prosecute service providers, "who need only smile or frown to indicate the sex of the fetus," Chu says a solution to the problem requires improvement in the status of women. "This calls for a wide range of social, economic, political, and legal measures designed to promote gender equality and adoption of developmental strategies that favor gender equity." Chu Junhong is Associate Professor, Institute of Population Research, Peking University, Beijing. Population and Development Review, Vol. 27, No. 2, June 2001, also includes Notes and Commentary, Data and Perspectives, Archives, Book Reviews, and Documents. For subscription information call 212/339-0514, fax 212/755-6052, or email publications@popcouncil.org.
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