Child sex change craze in India

Indian parents' preference for sons has led to inhumane sex change operations on young girls, reports the Telegraph. In a country that has preference for sons over daughters, hundreds of daughters age 1 to 5 are reported being "converted" into boys through a sex-change procedure known as genitoplasty, which involves fashioning a penis out of female sex organs, then pumping the child full of male hormones. This "shocking, unprecedented trend, catering to the fetish for a son," is drawing parents from all over the nation to the central Indian city of Indore.

Female infanticide is not uncommon in India as daughters are often seen as a great financial burden to the family because of their education and especially marriage where the girls' parents have to pay huge amount of dowries to the bridegrooms' families. Sometimes the dowries can run up to $100,000 or more. Hence it is not surprising to see girls' parents in India turn to doctors to operate on their daughters and change their sex.

The sex change operations, however, are not without complications and pose the danger of turning the girls into freaks or misfits in the society. These girls, even if they survive the trauma of the operation, suffer from infertility and impotency as the implanted organs are not capable of producing hormones.

Indore's genitoplasty experts reveal that each clinic and hospital in Indore has transformed 200 to 300 girls into 'boys' so far. Relatively inexpensive cost - about $3,300 - and vague laws regarding such practices have lured greedy parents even more. Indore’s success stories on the sex change have now attracted parents from other cities such as Delhi and Mumbai.

India already faces a gender imbalance, with 7 million more boys than girls younger than 6, and women's and children's rights campaigners have targeted such practices as a sign of India's growing 'social madness.'

"The more educated and rich you are, the more there is killing of girls. People don't want to share their property or invest in girls' education or pay dowries. It is the greedy middle classes running after money," said Ranjana Kumari, India's leading campaigner against female feticide.

Parents have the choice to choose whether they would want a child or not. Some parents even go to the extend to choose the gender of their children through in vitro fertilization (IVF). Parents ought to remember that their children cannot choose their parents and their own gender. In fact, they cannot even choose whether they want to come into this world or not. It's the parents that made the choice for them and trying to "play God" by pre-destine your children's fate is morally wrong.

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