In her book Unnatural Selection, Mara Hvistendahl argues that when a culture prizes baby boys over girls, the result is a dangerously lopsided world
IN SOME places, there’s no greater danger to a baby girl than her own parents. For decades now, in swathes of Asia and pockets of eastern Europe, millions of female fetuses have been aborted and infants murdered for no other reason than their families wanted boys. In Unnatural Selection, science journalist Mara Hvistendahl explores the scale of this shocking phenomenon and questions why it exists.
It’s a gripping read. Expensive dowries, honour and maintaining the family name are the main drivers behind…
