Tendency of increasing male fetuses in Kolkata

KOLKATA: Pregnancy through test tube babies is becoming increasingly popular, especially in urban areas. Many couples who are unable to have children are availing help from various fertility centers.

However, a trend has been observed. An increasing number of test tube babies have resulted in boys and not girls. The State Health Department has recently detected this tendency. Officials are worrying that this may pose serious problems for the future generations.

The new technology encompassing the test tube baby process, allows a couple to choose the gender of the fetus. Parents are increasingly opting for male and not female fetuses. They are now resorting to not killing the female embryo but to artificially choose the male.

Parents are also ready to pay a higher sum of money for the male fetuses.
This, however, is an illegal process. The registration of the fertility centers engaging in such activities can be cancelled. However what is keeping the health department from taking prompt action is the lack of solid proof.
In some fertility centers, the number of male embryos is more than 50% of those of female embryos. These centers have received a warning from the health department.