‘Indian and Chinese community in Oz abort female foetuses’

The news ‘it is a girl’ is still unwelcome in many Indian and Chinese homes in Australia as members of the two communities account for nearly 1,400 female foetus abortions in 10 years, according to an international gender expert.

“Australia registered 1,395 missing female births during 2003-2013 among Chinese and Indian communities in Australia,” Dr Christophe Guilmoto, who authored a UN report on gender selection in the country, was quoted as saying by SBS Radio on Wednesday. According to Guilmoto, there is no doubt that Sex Ratios at Birth (SRB) among Chinese and Indians are skewed in Australia for the period 2003-2013.

He says one can even compute the number of “missing female births” in these two communities. To 

do so, he compares the expected number of female births (with a normal Australian SRB) with the observed number of female births in the two communities. By his calculations, he estimates a total of 1,395 missing female births during 2003-2013.

The report said the practice of stopping female foetuses from being born is happening in Australia because of a system loophole.

“They (pregnant women) have gone for gender testing, early gestation, but they disappear from the system. They say I will go for an ultrasound, then they will go for an abortion... If they find it is a female baby, they will go to the abortion clinic from the ultrasound,” he said.