Sex-Selective Abortions in India

Fred Arnold, Macro International Inc.
Sunita Kishor, Macro International Inc.
T.K. Roy, International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS)

Provisional estimates from the 2001 Census of India, which show unusually high sex ratios for young children in India, have sparked renewed concern about the widespread use of sex-selective abortions to satisfy parental preferences for sons. According to the 1998-99 National Family Health Survey (NFHS-2), the sex ratio at birth in India was abnormally high (108-122) in 18 out of the 26 Indian states. NFHS-2 data also permit an examination of the use of ultrasound and amniocentesis for determining the sex of fetuses. For India as a whole, the sex ratio at birth was 111.7 for women who had ultrasound, 122.2 for women who had amniocentesis, and 107.0 for women who did not have either of these procedures as part of an antenatal check-up. This paper uses the NFHS-2 survey data to quantify the use of sex determination techniques for fetuses and the extent of sex-selective abortions in India.