A Proposed Ban on Revealing the Sex of a Fetus:
There’s an article in yesterday’s Globe and Mail suggesting that the medical community should not reveal the sex of a fetus until after 30 weeks when abortion is (almost) impossible to obtain. The reasoning is that there is an unreleased study suggesting that female babies are being aborted amongst Asian and South Asian immigrants.
I am not an investigative journalist so I’m not going to go into example after example of this being true or untrue, although, according to this article in the Globe and Mail many health experts agree that this is a “small but serious problem among some immigrant groups”. There have been enough news articles, documentaries, TV reports and internet news about abandoned girl babies in orphanages in China and the honor killings in Quebec to suggest a trend.
This article states that “it flies in the face of accepted standards of patient care” and “Changing deep-rooted cultural beliefs, not imposing heavy handed restrictions is key”. But changing cultural beliefs is supremely hard, especially with new Canadians.
When my mother was in the hospital after giving birth to me (having immigrated from Greece and living in Canada for about 12 years at that point) she ran into an old neighbor who expressed concern: “how does your husband feel about a daughter?” My mother replied that during her pregnancy he hoped that I would be a boy but once he laid eyes on me he declared I was the most beautiful child in the world and he was the luckiest man.
Fast forward 29 years. My mom and I took my daughter Helen to her very traditional orthodox church for the first time and an acquaintance came over to say hi when she saw us with the baby carrier.
“Congratulations”, she said “Is it a boy?”
“No,” we replied, “a little girl.”
“Oh. Well that’s alright” she said, unenthusiastically.
“You’re damn right it’s alright!” was my mother’s outraged reply, after which the woman quickly left. (PS I love it when my mom swears in church 
This was tempered by another lady who said “Oh thank god it’s a girl! You have so many men in your family it’s a wonder you two don’t pee standing up!
It blows my mind a little bit that we are still dealing with this sort of attitude towards children! But it goes to show that even after many years in Canada, ideas remain ingrained. Changing cultural beliefs is not going to happen overnight, or maybe not for dozens of years, so why can’t we just change the guidelines slightly?
As for patient care, the sex of the child is in no way shape or form pertinent to pregnancy or health. You will not die if you don’t know the sex of your child. What it comes down to is convenience of the parents for choosing a name and outfitting the nursery. That’s it. Otherwise, you don’t need to know. They didn’t know for thousands of years. (FYI – I did not find out the sex of my first because I wanted to be surprised. I did for the second because my husband really wanted to know, and I wanted to prepare with some new things for the new baby.)
There may not be more than anecdotal evidence and unsubstantiated studies that suggest certain cultures will abort female fetuses but if the medical association decides to change a policy that does not have a basis in medical necessity I would support it.
About Voula Martin
The original article (an editorial) was in the Canadian Medical Association Journal; I’m pretty sure they had actual studies to back up their stance that this is indeed occurring in Canada.
This article from the Herald talked about some of the stuff they looked at:
http://www.calgaryherald.com/touch/CMAJ+calls+doctors+conceal+baby+avoid+Asian+abortion+trend/6004246/story.html?rel=841484
Well-written Voula, I would support this as well.
It gets my back up when my freedoms are restricted because of things other people are doing. There is no possible or potential beneficial effect for my baby, even a remote one. I find it highly unlikely that people who are motivated to find out their babies sex so they can abort a baby they do not consider to be desirable would not find a way to work around this either. Whether it is bribing a technician or going through private clinics.
I really like knowing what I’m going to have, it helps me bond with my baby and see him or her as more than just an abstract concept, which in turn helps me with all the unpleasant aspects of pregnancy. It’s not for everyone and I understand that, but it’s a choice I want to have.
Also well written and now I agree with you too. The question is then, do we think people should be stopped from aborting based on gender and if so what measures can be taken that doesn’t infringe on the liberties of others? I think the answer is education but it does take generations for it to really sink in and with some people it never does.
Yes, this is really not an easy situation, nor is it black and white.
As the article states, they suggest waiting until 30 weeks from the current 18 so you still get to find out, just not until later in the pregnancy when there is still lots of time to bond. And shop
But you are absolutely right, someone hell bent on finding out what they are having will always find a loophole in the system. If we make that loophole tiny, and thereby save some lives, I accept that minor infringement.
As far as stopping abortion based on sex, the providers have no way of determining that. If I were intent on aborting a daughter, I can lie and say my husband died, or beats me, or any number of falsehoods; again, loopholes.
I had a third opinion expressed to me regarding this article. Its very blunt and very distasteful: If it prevents a child from growing up as a second class citizen, unwanted and potentially abused, isn’t it better that the unwelcome daughters get aborted? She pointed to the honor killings as an extreme example.
I ended up finding out the sex of my first at around 30 weeks. He didn’t want to co-operate at 18 weeks). It’s not the same experience. Regardless, how am I getting the ultrasound at 30 weeks to determine that? Unless you have some kind of health problem they are not routinely done. And because as you point out, finding out the gender of your child is not a medical necessity, you would likely have to pay a private clinic at 30 weeks to find out.
Don’t get me wrong, I think that aborting based on sex is wrong, but I don’t think this measure would do anything more than make people feel better that they are ‘doing something’.
Well, to the first point, I would suspect that they could note the gender at the 18 week ultrasound and seal the record for the file until 30 weeks. That eliminates the need to go back for a 3rd ultrasound.
As for your last point I totally disagree. “Make people feel better that they are doing something” equals make a very small, superficial sacrifice in our otherwise selfish existence to ensure that an innocent being can be born and have a chance.
Good article!! I agree that whatever we can do to safe guard the lives of innocent babes is worth looking at!! Most people do not realize that Canada has absolutely no law banning abortion at any stage of the pregnancy! The lives of our boys as well as our little girls are also at risk…These would be the future of our country!!!
Thoughts to ponder and consider