Summary

In North India, preference for sons has been blamed for repeated incidents of female feticide, despite the legislation in the form of the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques Act, 2002. We describe how a team of local private doctors offer package deals to pregnant women and their families in rural areas. The fetal sex is determined at night using a portable ultrasonography machine.

If the fetus is a girl, an immediate induced abortion is offered in the clients’ home. If complications arise, women are advised to attend hospital. Such a patient visited us with a history of bleeding per vagina following incomplete induced abortion. This case study highlights the fact that female feticide continues to occur in India.