It's a Boy :) and what that means in Chai Country

We are so excited to have a little boy joining our family this Aug. We went to Nepal and got a Gender scan done for fun. He better be active to keep up with Little E.

WHY GO TO NEPAL TO FIND OUT?

Gender determination ultrasounds are illegal in Chai Country and for good reason. Because of the abortion rates and infanticide rates among girls are so high, they had to ban Gender Ultra Sounds in 1994. Abortions here are so common even if you don't know the gender. Here is my little experience so far.

I went to the Dr. in the Capital when I was 14 weeks to have a check up. I had not seen this Dr. since Little E was born. She currently has a new assistant (Dr. in training) I guess so that lady took all my info. As soon as I told her I was pregnant again she said "oh, so you are here for an abortion!" Speechless I stared at her and finally said, "NO" I just want an ultra sound to see my baby's heart beat. Then I quickly told her I would never have one ect... 5 mins later she asked me "So have you had an abortion in the past?" Again I said, "no" and explained why I wouldn't and that I was a follower of TBMU and even if I wasn't I would still never have one. She was like ok next Question "Are you vegetarian?" and rolled it off like no big deal. She thought I would want one since Little E is so young. When we were pregnant with Little E we told everyone we saw that we were having a little girl so that we could show them how excited we are that we would love our child no matter what gender. Now all we ever heard is you guys need another baby so you can have a boy. I even had one neighbor tell me she knew a good Dr. who would make sure I had a boy (in other words he would abort if it was a girl). 2 days ago I went to a friends house and she told me I need another baby so I could have a boy. We always tell everyone that we do not need a boy to be complete as a family but if TBMU gives us one we would be just as happy as we would be if it was a girl. This is just not a concept here. None of our neighbors here know we are having another baby yet. Mainly because here in Chai Country as soon as they know you are pregnant they don't let you do anything and get really aggressive. Giving you tons of oily foods, making sure I sit in bed all day, getting upset if I walk up the stairs, and getting mad if I go out side. Luckily with the baggy clothes no-one has figured it out here. Plus it's a taboo thing to talk about before 4 or 5 months anyway so technically we are being very cultural about waiting to tell people here. As a foreigner my experience is just minor to the pressure they put on the woman of Chai Country.

GENDER STATS OF CHAI COUNTRY!

• Gender Ultrasounds became illegal in 1994.

• According to the 1991 national census, the age 0-6 sex ratio was 934 girls to 1,000 boys, which declined to 927 in the 2001 census, and to 914 girls aged six and under for every 1,000 boys in 2011.

• With areas in some states such as Haryana, Punjab and Rajasthan having just 798 girls for every 1,000 boys under the age of six.

• The worldwide statistic is 1,050 girls for every 1,000 boys

• If people cannot afford to do a gender determination ultrasound before birth some Dr's or parents will perform infanticide in the first few mins saying the child was born still born.

• Other stories we have heard is throwing the girls in nearby rivers or rice fields, leaving them on the streets for dogs, using them as human sacrifice for the farms.

• Most of the Gender-Selective Abortions are among the Educated and the Wealthy.

• Wife sharing is on the rise in villages. This is when the parents marry 1 son but cannot find wives for there other sons. So the wife of the married son is forced to have children to carry on the line of the other sons as well.

This story just happened a few days ago about a father killing his daughter you can read more on this link http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-04-11/bangalore/31324713_1_cardiac-arrest-girl-baby-hospital-authorities

It is our prayer that we can show everyone around us how much we love our Daughter and our Son equally.