"I'm not a child maker..." Mrs. Lam Thi Hoa, 35, from Binh Chanh district, Ho Chi Minh City shouted in anger when arguing with her husband about the must to have a son.

For many years, Hoa has been under pressure to give birth to a son for her husband's family. She said: “My husband is the only son in his family, so he is under pressure to have a son to maintain the continuity of his family line. We have two little girls. They are all very healthy and lovely. However, that is not enough for my husband’s family, particularly my father-in-law.”

“I’m very sad and tired under that pressure. I feel pity for myself and my two daughters. However, I did not dare to speak out because of the fact that in today's society, not only me, is in such a situation,” she lamented.

Nguyen Van Anh, Director of the Center for Applied Scientific Research on Gender - Family - Women and Adolescents (CSAGA), said that the preference for boys has existed for a long time in a society of male chauvinism. 

In today's life, that outdated conception is realized by the selection of sex at birth, which happens even more for wealthy families.

This situation resulted in the imbalance of the sex ratio at birth in Vietnam. According to various reports of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the sex ratio at birth in Vietnam in 2016 was 112.2 girls/100 boys. It was 112.1/100 in 2017 and reached a peak of 114.8/100 in 2018. UNFPA said that the imbalance in the sex ratio at birth in Vietnam was the third highest in Asia, after only China and India.

The organization believes that this situation has a demographic impact. For the group 15–49 years old, the number of Vietnamese men will outnumber women by 1.5 million by 2034.

If the imbalance of sex ratio at birth does not decrease, by 2059, Vietnam will have up to 2.5 million excess males.

Unpredictable consequences

The excess of men will cause millions of men to live alone. This leads to a broken family structure.

The inability to get married also makes men face psychological and spiritual problems, leading to an increase in social evils, especially prostitution. Along with that, the risks of HIV/AIDS infection and trafficking in women and children will also increase.

Meanwhile, from the perspective of sustainable development, the imbalance in the sex ratio at birth deepens gender inequality. This process greatly affects the sustainable development of the country, causing economic, political and social instability.

Many experts and organizations said that changing the thought of preferring boys and choosing sex at birth plays a key role in reducing the imbalance in the sex ratio at birth in Vietnam.

Ms. Nguyen Van Anh said: “In my opinion, it is extremely important to change the thought of son preference in our country. To make girls and women have respect, protection, to be able to promote their full potential and not suffer from any prejudice in both the family and at the workplace.”

"People will not discriminate son or daughter, if they see in society that boys and girls are equally respected and have equal opportunities to develop," she added.

However, she also admitted that it takes a lot of work and time to do this. The concept is deeply rooted in Vietnamese people.

Meanwhile, UNFPA believes that it is necessary to address the root causes of son preference by enhancing the value of girls, promoting dual-family kinship models in which both paternal and maternal families are equally acknowledged.

In addition, the organization recommends that the authorities should strengthen the State's regulations banning fetal sex determination by strengthening supervision of the use of obstetric ultrasound in both public and private health facilities.

Ha Nguyen