DAUGHTERS DEFERRED: Analyzing Gender Bias and Reproductive Choices in Indian American Households

Abstract

Historically, India and other areas in South Asia have struggled with son preference. This belief that sons are superior to daughters due to the economic stability they bring and their usefulness in carrying on the family name, has resulted in extreme measures being taken to ensure a son is born, such as sex-selective abortions. This practice was widespread among the Indian middle class, with the increase in ultrasound technology leading to high rates of abortions of female fetuses. This resulted in a severe skewing of sex ratios, causing issues such as threats to population health and increased violence against women. To rectify this, the Indian government passed a policy titled the “Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Determination Techniques Act,” to restrict sex determination before a child’s birth. Despite this policy helping a slow return to natural sex ratios in India, there is limited knowledge on whether sex selective practices continue amongst the Indian immigrant diaspora. It is also unknown if this policy successfully managed to change the mindset of son preference for the Indian diaspora, or whether this community still believes in son bias. Despite a lack of updated research on whether this issue still exists in today’s diaspora population, policymakers in the United States have used this as a way to promote anti-abortion laws. Without providing an accurate profile of this issue, the motivating concern of this thesis is the possibility of policy that is created being misinformed and discriminatory. Hence, this thesis aims to ask the following questions: (1) Does the Indian diaspora in the U.S. continue to believe in son preference, and do they undergo sex selective abortions? (2) How extreme is the issue of sex selective abortions in the Indian diaspora nowadays? (3) Has there been a shift away from son preference in the first generation Indian American population? Based on previous scholarly research, it was hypothesized that Indian American immigrants would continue to hold strong values of son preference, and that son bias would have a visible impact on family planning. Additionally, it was predicted that the PC-PNDT act would have had limited effectiveness on changing the mindset of Indian families and immigrants. This thesis aims to provide a unique and new perspective to the limited research on the Indian American diaspora. The study used a mixed-method approach: (1) conducting large-scale quantitative analysis on Indian American families to test for significant trends hinting at son preference, and (2) conducting interviews on Indian immigrants and first-generation Indian Americans about son preference. The findings showed that son preference still exists to some extent amongst the Indian population, but not to the extent that scholars have concluded in the past. Additional conclusions include a discussion of the beliefs of first generation Indian Americans that son preference is an unfair and morally wrong belief. This study ultimately argues that there is a need for accurate and updated data to be collected before policymaking, as without this, resulting policies may be discriminatory and based on inaccuracies. The thesis concludes by recommending future directions for policymakers and Indian Americans alike.