Factors affecting child gender desirability

Objective To evaluate the dynamics influencing child’s gender desirability among expecting females and ascertain the major determinants. Methodology This cross-sectional, observational study included 100 pregnant females, chosen via simple random sampling, at the OBGYN outpatient department of the Liaquat University Hospital, Hyderabad. Data was collected via structured interview based questionnaires from 1st December 2014 to 10th February 2015 after taking the verbal informed consent. SPSS v. 19.0 and Microsoft Excel were used to analyze the obtained data. Results Four main aspects were observed to affect the child gender desirability by the parents, namely the family structure of the expecting mother, socioeconomic circumstances of the expecting mother, locality of the expecting mother and the order of the expected child. The expecting females living in a rural vicinity, having deprived socioeconomic status and a combined family structure have a greater desire for giving birth to a male child. Furthermore, they also desire their first 3 children as a minimum to be born a male child. Conclusion On the roots of our results it has been accomplished that the desire of having a male child is a social taboo of our people and society and it has been recognized as one of the key reasons of domestic cruelty and brutality on women breathing in our society. This matter requires appropriate direction, advice, guidance and counseling.