The effect of sex preference on fertility and family planning: empirical evidence.
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The quality of children has mostly been discussed in so far as it can affect fertility. The sex of children is a particularly important subject in this context. Because a child's sex is stochastically determined, Ben-Porath and Welch used the household production approach to identify risky decision points. The purpose of this paper is twofold. One is to simplify Ben-Porath's and Welch's model. The other is to use KAP data in Taiwan to examine the causes of preferring to have at least 1 boy and to test in what direction and the degree to which such preferences affect fertility. The results can be summarized as follows: 1) preferring to have at least 1 boy is significant in Taiwan; 2) the data support both the assumption of inelastic demand and mild learning; 3) concerning the dummy variable for the existence of at least 1 boy preference, it can be shown that the regression coefficients for each of family structure, wife's education, and husband's occupation were statistically significant at the .01 significance level; and 4) when the impact of "at least 1 boy preference" on completed family size is concerned, the regression coefficient for the existence of at least 1 boy preference is positive as expected and also the most significant variable included.
This analysis examines the potential effect of sex preselection technology in the United States. The results suggest that controlling the sex of offspring is not the desire of most American women; that if it were employed, there would be a significant increase in sons as first-born and daughters as second children; that the overall sex ratio would be little changed from that occurring naturally except at very low fertility levels with universal use of such technology; and that fertility is only minimally influenced by gender preferences.
The behavioural response to the sex pheromones in the externally voided urine of field voles (Microtus arvalis) and laboratory mice (CFLP, CBA strains) although specific for species showed no strain specificity. Bladder urine (free of accessory sex-gland secretions) and the preputial glands of CFLP and CBA mice contain sex attractants. Ether extracts made of blood of male CFLP mice attracted CFLP female mice.
Botswana is one of the sub-Saharan countries where actual fertility has declined. This study examines the fertility preferences of both men and women and shows that fertility intentions have a significant influence on future fertility behaviour. Fertility preferences are relatively low and there is no significant difference between those of men and women. Men's preference for sons influences desired family size and eventual fertility. For women as well as men, child survival is an important factor. Women's income is also influential.
Throughout recorded history, humans have tried to influence the sex of their offspring, through pregnancy injunctions, infanticide, and infant/child neglect. Reproductive technologies developed in the late 20th century allow determination of the sex of the offspring during pregnancy, making "sex selection" through abortion possible. Especially in parts of East and South Asia, sex selection against female fetuses has had dramatic consequences for male/female sex ratios. However, "newer" new reproductive technologies, such as prenatal genetic diagnosis and DNA-weighted semen selection, can now be applied for sex selection; eventually, the latter technology may become easily accessible as a noninvasive method. The prospects of these new technologies for sex selection must be considered in the light of cultural values surrounding son preference / daughter discrimination in many parts of the world, most notably Asia, as well as preferences for a "gender-balanced" family in much of the West. The ethical issues surrounding these technologies, such as the right to life and the equal treatment of female children, are potentially profound, but legislating the appropriate use of these "newest" new reproductive technologies will be difficult.
OBJECTIVES: To study reproductive pattern and perinatal mortality in rural Tamil Nadu, South India. DESIGN: Community based, cross sectional questionnaire study of 30 randomly selected areas served by health subcentres. SETTING: Rural parts of Salem District, Tamil Nadu, South India. SUBJECTS: 1321 women and their offspring delivered in the 6 months before the interview. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Number of pregnancies, pregnancy outcome, spacing of pregnancies, sex of offspring, perinatal and neonatal mortality rates. RESULTS: 41% of the women (535) were primiparous; 7 women (0.5%) were grand multiparous (> 6 births). The women had a mean age of 22 years and a mean of 2.3 pregnancies and 1.8 live children. The sex ratio at birth of the index children was 107 boys per 100 girls. The stillbirth rate was 13.5/1000 births, the neonatal mortality rate was 35.3/1000, and the perinatal mortality rate was 42.0/1000. Girls had an excess neonatal mortality (rate ratio 3.42%; 95% confidence interval 1.68 to 6.98; this was most pronounced among girls born to multiparous women with no living sons (rate ratio 15.48 (2.04 to 177.73) v 1.87 (0.63 to 5.58) in multiparous women with at least one son alive). CONCLUSIONS: In this rural part of Tamil Nadu, women had a controlled reproductive pattern. The excess neonatal mortality among girls constitutes about one third of the perinatal mortality rate. It seems to be linked to a preference for sons and should therefore be addressed through a holistic societal approach rather than through specific healthcare measures.
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This study was designed to investigate the effect of sex, age (5 to 18 yr), and IQ (20 to 78) of subjects on sex of human figures drawn first by 146 mentally retarded children. The results showed that the percentages of self-sex figures drawn first by mentally retarded boys and girls are statistically significantly lower than those for boys and girls of normal ability and that neither severity of retardation nor age is significant in determining the frequencies with which a self-sex figure is drawn first by mentally retarded boys and girls. It was suggested that minimal intelligence is required to learn the sex-identification and to identify with one's own sex.
OBJECTIVE: To examine the likelihood of twinning through conception during lactation and to attempt to explain why there is an increased sex ratio with monozygotic twinning. STUDY DESIGN: Parturients who had become pregnant while still breastfeeding were asked to supply information about their gestations. Also, records from two maternity services over a three-year period were examined for the sex of monozygotic twin sets. Zygosity was confirmed with the pathology reports of the placentas. RESULTS: Much like that in a previously published study, the sex ratio (females/total) was found to be 0.60 in monozygotic twins. In the case of lactating gravidas, the incidence of twinning was much higher than in a random population (11.4% versus 1.1%). CONCLUSION: These findings are consistent with the model of twinning as a consequence of a depressed calcium environment and its effect on embryonic intercellular bonding.
The influence of apomorphine (1 mg/kg/day subcutaneously) on the behavior and some pharmacokinetic parameters of both male and female rats preferring ethanol to water was studied experimentally. Upon withdrawal of ethanol, apomorphine decreased the time of transmission to water consumption in the rats of both sexes and prevented a decline in the endogenous ethanol levels, the latter effect being especially pronounced in the female rats. Investigations on the "Animex" actograph showed an intensified response to apomorphine in rats preferring ethanol, with female rats displaying a greater change in the response. Under conditions of a renewed access to ethanol, apomorphine increased the time of the restoration of the previous preference for ethanol to water (with a stronger effect seen in females) and lowered the rate of ethanol elimination from the blood (in the female rats exclusively). The effacement of the sex differences in ethanol addicted rats, and a greater damaging impact of ethanol on female rats are emphasized.
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Findings on sex preference for children from a Thai national survey show substantial differences for men and women. Married women appear to have a weak or moderate preference for sons, coexisting with a desire to have at least one child of each sex. Their husbands' preference for sons is noticeably more pronounced. Son preference is strongest among urban ethnic Chinese men but is also substantial among ethnic Thai men. There is also some evidence that men like to have at least one daughter. The contrasting patterns of sex preferences found for men and women in Thailand suggest that results can be misleading if studies of sex preferences for children are based exclusively on samples of married women.
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