Vietnam's Girls Go Missing

Vietnam is the latest country to report an alarming skew towards boy babies, one that may lead to vast societal upheaval. This week, the United Nations Population Fund said that some 25,000 expected baby girls went "missing" - were not carried to term - in Vietnam last year. The implication is that some expectant parents are aborting unwanted girls once they learn the sex of the fetus through ultrasound technology. Government statistics and a separate U.N. survey in 2006 put the ratio of newborns at 110 boys to every 100 girls - higher than the "natural" rate of 105 to 107 boys for every 100 girls.

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The phenomenon has been reported across Asia. The same U.N. report estimated that a stunning 95 million expected female babies in Asia were reportedly "disappeared" in 2000 - 85% of them in China and India. In China, the national average is 120 boys born for every 100 girls. India's reported sex-ratio in 2001 was 108:100 nationwide, but as high as 120 in some areas; some 7,000 girls...