The rise and fall of sex-selective abortion in Georgia

WHEN NILUFER KURBANOVA’S doctor told her she was going to have a boy, he expected a tip for delivering the good news. He did not get one.Ms Kurbanova does not believe, as many older Georgians do, that sons are better than daughters. Some families feel they need a male child to carry on the bloodline; Ms Kurbanova thinks this is hokum. Traditional families expect sons to look after their parents in their old age, whereas a daughter would look after her husband’s parents. Ms Kurbanova does not see why it has to be that way.