Doctoral Dissertation Research: Son Preference and Sex Selection in Post-Soviet Azerbaijan

出生性别比失衡是一个长期存在的社会问题。男性出生率过高不仅标志着女性的严重贬值，还可能扭曲后代的人口动态。产前选择男孩需要现代医学技术，如超声波。尽管如此，在一些没有记录在案的出生后歧视女孩的发展中国家，出生时的性别比例已经变得不平衡。为什么？这项研究的目的是记录准父母如何看待抚养儿子和女儿的潜在好处和缺点，夫妇是如何第一次了解性别选择技术的可获得性，以及他们如何驾驭计划生育决定。这一案例研究的结果将帮助我们理解产前性别选择获得吸引力的各种机制。研究结果将在学者和利益相关者中传播，他们被投资于制定解决出生性别比失衡的政策。这项研究将使用定性的方法来了解父母？儿童的性别偏好和对性别选择的态度。配偶将作为一对夫妇单独和一起接受采访。由于人口学家预测，超声波技术的普及将促进发展中国家的性别选择实践，这项研究将突出个人在接受产前性别选择作为可行的计划生育选择之前所经历的道德领域。

Imbalanced sex ratios at birth are a long-standing social problem. An excess of male births not only signals a deep devaluation of women, but it can distort population dynamics for subsequent generations. Prenatal selection of boys requires modern medical technologies such as ultrasound. Still, sex ratios at birth have become skewed in parts of the developing world with no documented history of postnatal discrimination against girls. Why? The purpose of this research is to document how expecting parents viewed the potential benefits and disadvantages of raising sons and daughters, how couples first learned about the availability of sex selection technologies, and how they navigated family planning decisions. The findings of this case study will help us understand the various mechanisms through which prenatal sex selection gains traction. Findings will be disseminated among academics and stakeholders who are invested in generating policies that address imbalanced sex ratios at birth.This study will use qualitative methods to learn about parents? Sex preferences for children and attitudes toward sex selection. Spouses will be interviewed separately and together as a couple. As demographers project that the diffusion of ultrasound technology will facilitate sex selective practices across the developing world, this study will highlight the moral terrain that individuals navigate before they accept prenatal sex selection as a viable family planning option.