Associations of Son Preference and Socio-Demographic Factors with Sex Selection of Children: Results from the Taiwan Women Health and Fertility Survey

Yu-Hsuan Lin, Bureau of Health Promotion, Taiwan
Wan-Hsun Chen, Bureau of Health Promotion, Taiwan
Hui-Chi Chu, Bureau of Health Promotion, Taiwan
Baai-Shyun Hurng, Bureau of Health Promotion, Taiwan

This study aimed to examine the associations of son preference and socio-demographic factors with sex selection of children among married women in Taiwan. We used data from the 2008 Women Health and Fertility Survey. A total of 1,634 women who had experience of planned pregnancies were analyzed. Contingency table and Chi square test were used to compare differences across categories. Generalized estimating equations (GEE) models were applied for multivariate analysis. 8.9% of the respondents ever used sex selection. Older at the time of pregnancy, higher education, later parity, husband was the only son of the family, or not reaching desired number of son were significantly associated with sex selection. The most frequently applied method for sex selection was traditional method. It is crucial to call public attention on gender balance and advocate on avoidance of using sex selection without medical reasons.