Sex-selective abortions in Central Asia: how traditions kill in the womb
“What if I’d given birth to a third daughter back then….”: Sex-selective abortions in Central Asia: How traditions kill in the womb
20.05.2026
Article published on the azattyqasia.org website
Patriarchal traditions, combined with modern diagnostic technologies in medicine, have led to tens of thousands of girls not being born in Central Asia every year. This includes sex-selective abortions where a woman’s pregnancy is terminated if she is expecting a daughter. Experts warn that prenatal gender selection not only reflects societal discrimination, but also carries with it serious social risks.
Discrimination even before birth
Nafisa, a 50 year-old Tashkent resident, describes the decision she made at the time as one of the hardest of her life. Then, she and her husband were raising two daughters. Upon learning she was expecting another girl, Nafisa decided to have an abortion – her husband didn’t object.
“Although he doted on his daughters and always spoiled them, he had never hidden the fact that he wanted a son. I wanted to have a third child but not any more thereafter. If I’d had a girl then, I would have had to consider having a fourth pregnancy because I too wanted a boy. I decided that my body couldn’t cope with the strain as I was in poor health, which is why I terminated my third pregnancy”, she said.
Two years later, Nafisa became pregnant again. “At the 12-week scan, the doctor said the child was highly likely to be a boy. I continued with the pregnancy despite my health issues and did indeed give birth to a son”, she said.
The culture of the son as the progenitor of the family has been developing in the East for centuries as before the age of ultrasound scans, it was impossible to determine a child’s gender prior to its birth. These scans and modern blood tests have changed all that and, in the process, paved the way for sex-selective abortion, discriminating against girls before they are even born.
In most countries, there are 105 boys born for every 100 girls. This ratio has remained stable in many populations for decades. But there are exceptions. In two Central Asian countries, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, the picture is rather different. According to official data, for every 100 girls in Uzbekistan, approximately 107 boys are born and 110 in Tajikistan.
This imbalance is attributed to women aborting their pregnancies if medical examinations reveal they are expecting a girl. This often happens under pressure from their husbands and relatives.
“They forced me even at 21 weeks”
In Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, abortions are permitted at a woman’s request up to the 12th week of her pregnancy. After that, the procedure is only possible for medical or social reasons. In reality, however, these restrictions are often circumvented, Muazzam Ibragimova, a psychologist at the Fergana-based CSO Mekhrjon, which provides social and legal protection for mothers and children, tells Azattyk Asia.
“I know of cases where women have been forced to terminate their pregnancies at 21 weeks simply because they were expecting a girl”, says Ibragimova.
Under Uzbek and Tajik law, a woman is not held responsible for ending a pregnancy, but both countries prosecute those who coerce her into having an abortion, or perform one illegally.
However, women often fail to realise that they are being subjected to an act of violence when they are pressured into having an abortion, Gulnora Beknazarova, Director of the Zerkalo Centre for Sociological Research in Dushanbe, tells Azattyk Asia.
“Coercion is a form of violence but few will talk about forced terminations these days. Because in order to claim that a violent act has taken place, one must recognise it as such. People don’t often realise this. They may share the view of those who say having an abortion is “necessary”, she says.
“My husband took a second wife as his mother advised him to”
Guli, a 35 year-old Fergana resident, is the mother of four girls. She explains that during each of her pregnancies her husband and his family made no secret of their desire to have a boy. When she became pregnant for the fourth time and the doctors told her she was having a girl, her husband’s family insisted she have an abortion. Guli refused. In response, her husband declared he would take a second wife who could bear him an heir.
“At first, I thought he was joking. But my mother-in-law kept insisting it was my fault we were always having girls. After my fourth was born, she finally persuaded her son to take a second wife, who, she was certain, would bear him the long-awaited son. He remarried as his mother had told him to, but she too bore him four girls, so he now has a total of eight daughters!”, said Gulia.
The preference for boys is already leading to demographic imbalances in Uzbekistan. According to official statistics, over the past 25 years, 650,000 fewer girls than boys have been born in the country. A similar and persistent trend has also been observed in neighbouring Tajikistan over recent years.
Ferangis Mamadbokirova, a geneticist and co-founder of the Vista Medical Genetic Centre in Dushanbe, explains why, from a biological perspective, such an imbalance is unnatural:
“In men, sperm with X and Y chromosomes are produced in roughly equal numbers, 50/50. In other words, the chances of having a boy or a girl are essentially the same from the outset. Even allowing for some biological variations, these cannot account for such a pronounced imbalance on a national level”, says Ferangis.
The geneticist adds that a child’s sex is determined genetically and depends on the man.
“Every person has 23 pairs of chromosomes and it’s the 23rd pair that determines the gender. In women, it is XX, and XY in men. An egg always carries an X chromosome, while the sperm carries either an X or a Y. If the combination is XX, a girl is born and a boy if it is XY”, says the expert.
Nevertheless, the belief that a woman is “responsible” for the sex of a child is still widespread in society. If a family doesn’t produce a son, the blame is most often placed on the mother.
Because of these myths, Maryam from Tajikistan risks suffering a similar fate to Guli from Uzbekistan. The 32-year-old Dushanbe resident has four daughters and her husband is making it increasingly clear that the family needs a son to be “truly happy”.
“After our last daughter was born, he became withdrawn and irritable and felt ashamed to be in the company of friends and family”, she says.
Maryam’s mother-in-law is making no effort to hide her displeasure either, she explains. She quite openly accuses her daughter-in-law for failing to produce an heir for the family, and constantly reminds her that a woman who cannot give birth to a son is nothing but a useless good-for-nothing.
Maryam can’t help looking back on her own sister’s story: she also had three daughters and her husband eventually divorced her and remarried. “I’m afraid my husband will talk about a divorce too one day, or secretly take a second wife”, she says.
“There is still a misguided belief in our society that having a son automatically confers social status on a man, proving he is a “real man”. Unfortunately, the lack of an educated population and its deeply ingrained traditions results in people making poor life choices”, said the psychologist, Muazzam Ibragimova.
Dilmurad Irgashev, President of the Association of Reproductive Specialists of Uzbekistan and Director of the Institute of Reproductive Medicine and Genetics, agrees that the problem is deeply rooted in culture. He adds that the pressure on women is fuelled by patriarchal notions that a son is not merely an heir and the continuation of the family line, but also the economic provider for his parents in old age.
“In their view, the boy would stay with the family, and his children, that is his grandchildren, are considered “their own”. They think: “We’ll marry off the girl and she’ll go to another family”.
“Spell-like names”: thousands of unborn girls and its consequences
Given that, according to established tradition, the birth of a boy is seen as essential to the preservation of the family, Central Asia is home to many long-standing practices in which faith, tradition and attempts to influence fate are closely intertwined.
One of these relates to so-called “spell-like names”. In Tajikistan, if several girls are born in succession in a family, the youngest are given names that are supposed to “stop” their arrival and “summon” the long-awaited son. The second, third or fourth daughter might be named Kifoya (enough), Basgul (enough flowers – meaning girls), or Khotima (the last). These names express the real hope that the next child in the family would be a boy.
A similar approach is also taken in other countries in the region. Kazakh parents wanting a son would name their daughters Ulzhan, Ulbolsyn or Ultuar (where “ul” means “boy”). In Kyrgyzstan, similar names are given: Uulzhan, Uulbolsun, Uulmeken or Bural (the latter meaning, “turn”). In Turkmenistan, they resorted to spell-names such as Ogulkerek (we need a son) and Ogulkeldy (a son has come). In Uzbekistan, parents wanting the next child to be a boy might name their daughter Ugiloy, which translates as “moon boy”.
Today, such names are less common. However, the beliefs underlying these traditions remain as strong as ever. They also manifest themselves in rituals. In some Tajik regions, a custom still exists that when a bride is brought to the groom’s house for the first time and after gifts have been exchanged, she is handed a small child, usually a boy. This is a symbolic wish for future motherhood. At that moment, the following is said: “Shirin shavad, shakar shavad, avvalin pisar shavad – May life be as sweet as sugar, and may the first born be a son”.
Meanwhile, in Tajikistan today, the male population outnumbers that of females, 50.7% and 49.3%, compared to 50.4% and 49.6% in Uzbekistan. The gap is particularly noticeable among children, teenagers and young people.
Experts are warning that this imbalance threatens to have serious social consequences.
“First and foremost, this could lead to a skewed marriage market as there will be more boys than girls. This will affect men, particularly those who are poor, living in more remote areas, with lower incomes and poor education. They will remain socially marginalised, which could increase their vulnerability as it means they will not reflect the standardised image of a man who is married with children. Furthermore, the age at which men can marry could increase. And there will be fewer marriages because parity in the marriage market is distorted”, predicts Gulnora Beknazarova.
Gulnora believes the social consequences will also affect women.
“There will be more “arranged marriages”, which are characteristic of patriarchal cultures of the Central Asian region. There will be fewer women, resulting in more pressure being placed upon them. And the expectations of society and family will only intensify because they are becoming a scarce resource”, says the expert.
Even as far back as ten years ago, the United Nations stated that South, South-East and Central Asian countries were short of at least 170 million women, as people from these parts of the world traditionally prefer to have sons and resort to sex-selective abortions. The UN has described such prenatal practices as an “abhorrent form of discrimination that must end”.
The Tashkent authorities are attempting to counter sex-selective terminations by engaging with religious leaders in awareness campaigns, as well as releasing public service messages that call for the end of selecting children on the basis of their gender.
Dilmurad Irgashev, President of the Uzbekistan Association of Reproductive Specialists, admits he is forced to invoke the spirit of religion when trying to dissuade couples from having sex-selective abortions.
“If they want to have an abortion, or have undergone in vitro fertilisation and are unhappy they have had a girl, the parents will come and tell me they don’t want the child. I begin by explaining to them from a religious perspective that, in Islam, raising daughters is considered a great blessing, for which a reward – Paradise – is promised. I have daughters myself and always say that they treat me with the greatest respect and love. I miss them more than anything, so I always tell fathers, you definitely need a daughter”, he says.
Gulya Khadzhaeva and Nargiz Khamrabaeva, Azattyk Asia
