Parents around the globe using modern technology to choose boys over girls

Parents around the globe using modern technology to choose boys over girls
Mothers hold their newborns in Hanoi, Vietnam. AP/Chitose Suzuki
Parents around the globe using modern technology to choose boys over girls
Mothers hold their newborns in Hanoi, Vietnam. AP/Chitose Suzuki

Parents around the globe using modern technology to choose boys over girls

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The selective termination of a pregnancy based on gender is on the rise globally.  Science has made it easier than ever to detect the sex of a fetus and to determine whether to continue or end a pregnancy.  The phenomenon is growing not only in countries like China and India, but also in places like Vietnam, Korea, Georgia and Albania.

Mara Hvistendahl is the Beijing-based correspondent for Science magazine and author of Unnatural Selection: Choosing Boys Over Girls and the Consequences of a World Full of Men. She tells Worldview why, as sex selection becomes more common and the world becomes increasingly male, we may face profound social upheaval down the road.