By Fatma Babayeva
A family is the basis of any society, and upbringing kids is one of the most important functions of the family. However, some families, particularly in the developing countries, prefer one gender over another while having babies.
Having a family is one of the essentials parts of the lifestyle in Georgia as well. In his painting, twentieth-century Georgian painter Irakli Toidze demonstrates a traditional Georgian mother. She holds her baby in her arms with a kind and caring expression on her face. In the background, we see mountains and single-stored houses. There is a nice weather and she seems to sing a lullaby to help her baby to sleep.
Traditionally, boys are preferred over girls in Georgia for many reasons. But it is hard to say whether the gender of the baby matters to Toidze’s painted mother or not.
In according to the UN Population Fund’s 2017 report, average sex ratio at birth was 108 in Georgia between 2010 and 2016, however, the normal ratio of newly born girls to boys naturally should be 100 to 105-107.
Significant sex imbalance at birth started to be experienced in Georgia since 1990s, along with its neighboring countries Azerbaijan and Armenia, according to the report. It was due to the introduction of the ultrasound devices, which enabled families to identify the gender of the baby before the delivery.
UNFPA’s report reads that Georgian families closely adjust their fertility behavior to the gender of their already born children, which means if a family has already two or more daughters are more likely to do sex-based abortions compared to the families who already have a son. In 2010-2014, the sex ratio of third-birth among parents without a son reached its highest level above 170 males per 100 girls against the average sex birth ratio value of 109 for the given period. UNFPA found no measurable sex imbalances at birth among women who already had a male baby. However, a significant share (39 per cent) of excess male births took place in first or second births.
Although the number declined and leveled off in mid-2010s, birth masculinity levels are still skewed in the south Eastern regions of Georgia such as Kakheti, Kvemo-Kartli and Samtskhe-Javakheti, that suggests the minorities may be the last to abandon sex selection.
The UNFPA’s monograph shows a persistence of a strong preference for sons in Georgia at the time of the 2014 census and the rapidly improving sex ratio at birth in the country until 2017. Nevertheless, Irina Badurashvili, Ph.D. on demography, interprets the data in a different way.
Caucasian Timer 