As Americans, we hold that all people are created equal.  Except, it seems, at birth.  An article in today’s New York Times reveals that a disproportionate number of males are born to immigrant Chinese, Indian, and Korean parents in the United States.  If the first child is a girl, the second child is more likely to be a boy. If both the first and second children are girls, the third child is even more likely to be a boy, suggesting that factors other than mere chance are in play.

While the national ratio of boys to girls at birth is 1.05 to 1, researchers at Columbia University have found that the ratios for  the children American Chinese, Indian, and Korean parents are radically different.  If the first child is a girl, the likelihood of having a boy as the second child increases to 1.17 to 1, and if both the first and second children are girls, the ratio for the third is 1.51 to 1.  That’s an increase of 11% and 43%, respectively.

In the article, Joyce Moy, executive director of the Asian American/Asian Research Institute of the City University of New York, explains that the cultural traditions have continued even among younger immigrants.

“  Inheritance in the old country is carried through the male line,” she said. “Families depend on the male child for support.  ”  

In the United States, many sex-selection clinics target recent immigrants specifically for this reason.   Dr. Jeffrey Steinburg, director of a clinic that advertises in Indian and Chinese newspapers states,

“  The patients come in and they all think they owe me an excuse, but the bottom line is it’s cultural… Culturally, there are a lot of strange things that go on in the world. Whether we agree with it, it’s not harming anyone.  ”

To the contrary, sex-selection demonstrates a disdain for girls, and a willingness to use whatever methods necessary to achieve the goal of having a boy.  Although there are several methods of achieving sex-selection, such as in vitro fertilization and sperm sorting, abortion is one of the most prevalent. Dr. Lisa Eng, a Hong-Kong born gynecologist says,

“  If it’s going to be a third, they’re pretty determined to have a boy. If it’s a boy, they keep it. If it’s a girl, they’ll abort.  ”

You would think that this would be a hot-button issue for the majority of women’s organizations.  However, while the self-proclaimed National Organization for Women bemoans “the gender bias in our judicial system,” they remain surprisingly silent on the obvious problem of gender bias at birth.

Why?  In order to combat gender bias at birth, they would have to admit that the unborn have a gender. And, if they have a gender and other distinguishable characteristics, they can hardly be the infamous clump of cells many abortion advocates say they are.