XICUN VILLAGE, China -- Not much seems to have changed in Xicun, a cliff-side village deep in the mountains of southern Guangxi province. Except when you scan the birth records.
Last year, 20 children were born to the women of Xicun. Sixteen were boys. The year before, 24 were born and 19 were boys. There is a reason for the preponderance of males: In 1999, the medical center that serves Xicun bought a cheap, Chinese-made ultrasound machine that allowed doctors to determine the sex of a fetus. Sex-selective abortions followed. And now the town, like hundreds of others in China, is facing a boom in boys.
Recent census figures show that 117 boys are born in China for every 100 girls. Boys are even more prevalent in rural areas, where they are needed to work and eventually inherit the land. (Stephen Shaver - AFP)
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Sex-selective abortions, infanticide and significant differences in children's access to medical care are contributing to an increasingly skewed sex ratio in China's countryside, Western and Chinese researchers say. Figures released this year as part of China's census show there are 117 boys born for every 100 girls.