Monica Das Gupta

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Yes, couples should have the right to choose the
sex of their children

• Monica Das Gupta
• World Bank Group

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Overview

• Broader issue of parental choice over the
  children they bear, and what drives the debate
  over the appropriateness of having such choice
• Specific issue of sex selection --- and of
  preference for boys in particular --- and put to
  you some of the benefits of the social structures
  that generate this outcome.

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1. Broader issue of parental choice

• Should parents be allowed to choose their
  childrens characteristics?
• Crippling genetic defects?
• Designer babies?
• What if the childs gender is perceived as a
  genetic defect?

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2. Sex selection and strong son preference

• Geographical distribution

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Commonalities between China, S. Korea and N.
India Clan structure

• How clans are organized
• How they manage their resources
• Why prefer sons to daughters

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Genealogy of a Jat lineage, Punjab, India
unmarried son age 40
married son
adopted son-in-law
Source Das Gupta (1995), based on records and
interviews
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Family systems son preference

• Clans have clear rules of
• who lives with whom
• who cooperates with whom
• where a person has rights to maintenance
• Sharp contrast to more bilateral kinship of S.E.
  Asia

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age 60 co-residing with married children,
Philippines 1984 and Taiwan 1989

• Sex of the Elderly Son Daughter
• Philippines
• Male 29 24
• Female 28 34
• Taiwan
• Male 55 5
• Female 63 7
• Source Casterline et al. 1993

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Benefits of clan organization

• Care of the vulnerable, including women and
  children
• Potential for economic advancement
• Services such as defense, justice

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In view of these benefits, are our choices so
easy?

• Challenging son preference would require tearing
  apart these social structures
• Are we in a position to provide these benefits
  through other channels?
• Or are we taking an easy ethical position
  without thought of the negative implications for
  the welfare of the majority?