Tuesday, 17th January 2012
Doctors should only disclose information that is important to maternal and newborn health in the first 30 weeks of pregnancy, keeping the sex of the unborn child secret from parents.
This is the advice of an editorial in the Canadian Medical Association Journal written by interim editor-in-chief of the publication Dr Rajendra Kale, who warned some Asian families may terminate pregnancies if it is discovered the foetus is female in order to try and conceive a male infant.
Foeticide of this nature is known to occur in several countries including China, India, Korea and Vietnam, but recent research has shown immigrants from these nations to Canada continue the practise.
"This evil devalues women," Dr Kale argued, adding: "The sex of the foetus is medically irrelevant information (except when managing rare sex-linked illnesses) and does not affect care."
For this reason she believes doctors should not feel obliged to offer this detail to parents and called on physicians' governing bodies to make it policy that the gender of a baby should remain secret until after 30 weeks' gestation.
Authorities in India have put in place schemes for the protection of female infants, which offer money for up to two girl children born to families which can be accessed when the girl reaches adulthood.