UK report says Indian-origin parents may be aborting female foetuses

TOI Correspondent from London: A UK government analysis has found a sizeable imbalance in birth sex ratios among Indian-origin families, raising concerns that some parents may be aborting female foetuses because they prefer sons.

The office for health improvement and disparities analysed birth data from 2017 to 2021 and detected one statistically significant anomaly: among children of Indian ethnicity, where the birth order was three or more, the sex ratio was 113 males per 100 females, far above the accepted upper limit of 107. The figure was based on 15,401 births.

Across the UK, there were 3.6 million births over the same period with an overall ratio of 105.4 males per 100 females, well within the normal global range of 102 to 106.

“This may indicate that sex selective abortions are taking place,” the report said. It estimated that approximately 400 sex-selective abortions of female foetuses may have occurred among Indian-origin families with two or more previous births in England and Wales during the five-year period.

Between 2017 and 2021, there were 13,843 abortions involving women of Indian ethnicity who had two or more previous live or stillbirths.

A deep-rooted cultural preference for boys — often tied to inheritance patterns, patriarchal pressures, and expectations around financial security and elderly care — has long shaped reproductive decisions in parts of South Asia. These pressures may be influencing a segment of Indian-origin families in Britain as well.

A department of health and social care spokesperson said: “This govt’s position is unequivocal. Sex-selective abortion is illegal in England and Wales and will not be tolerated. Sex is not a lawful ground for termination of pregnancy, and it is a criminal offence for any practitioner to carry out an abortion for that reason alone. Anyone with evidence that this illegal practice is occurring must report it to the police.”