Background: Declining sex ratio is an issue of grave concern in India. A preference for boys cuts across caste and class lines and results in discrimination against girls even before they are born. Long before medical abortion became available, unwanted girls were killed after birth or not given enough food and medicine to survive. But modern technology has changed that. As a consequence, infanticide has given way to feticide. Sex-determination tests became big business shortly after their introduction in India in the 1970s.
Objective: To study the awareness and practice of women regarding sex determination.
Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was done on 415 married women of Ahmedabad district. A pre-designed and pre-tested proforma was used to collect data by house-to-house visits. Informed consent was taken from each respondent before the initiation of survey. Data analysis was done using Microsoft Excel and Epi-Info.
Results: In the present study, only 11.85% of the women of rural area were aware about sex determination as compared to urban area in which it was 45.59%. Out of those who knew about sex determination most of them knew that it was done in private hospitals.
Conclusion: Majority of women in urban area were aware about sex determination and nearly half among them had undergone sex determination during any of their pregnancy. Only few women in rural area were aware about sex determination and all women among them had undergone sex determination during any of their pregnancy.
Key words: Awareness, practice, sex determination, married women
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