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A recommendation by a British parliamentary committee to allow a couple to select the sex of their child under certain circumstances is leading to new fears in Asian and African communities.
The practice of sex determination of a foetus leading to abortion if female is widespread in several parts of Asia and Africa already. The new fears arise over new technology that would allow a couple simply to select the sex of their child instead of waiting for the foetus to form.
In many communities in Asia and Africa parents are inclined to prefer sons to daughters.
The move is controversial enough even to have divided the parliamentary committee itself. "We've recommended many things, but one is that sex selection is now possible technologically, and it should be made available under certain circumstances," Labour Party MP Ian Gibson who headed the committee told IPS in an interview. "That perhaps is an issue that tended to split the committee."
Gibson said "there are all sorts of questions associated with that in particular communities who've come from other parts of the world...