Social and Psychological Factors Affecting Fertility. XIV. Preference for Children of Given Sex in Relation to Fertility

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Abstract
This paper provides data on prevalence, nature and strength of prenatal preferences regarding sex of children using material from families in the Indianapolis area. An attempt was made to determine how the sex of the children affected the size of the families. Approximately 53% of wives and 42% of husbands stated that they had no preference as to the sex of an only child. Wives stating preference showed slightly higher preference for girls than boys. Husbands stating preference indicated a marked desire for a son. The majority of parents felt that if they could have only 2 children they wanted a girl and a boy. Among 693 couples having living children of only 1 sex at the time of conception of the last child, about 10% stated that the main incentive to the last pregnancy was to have a child of different sex but about 33% felt that it was major consideration toward having the final pregnancy. Among 591 couples having a child of each sex, over 10% used the excuse of "already having a child of each sex" as the most important reason for not wanting another child, and about 50% of the couples used it as a major reason. Fertility rates were lowest in couples having their sex preference satisfied in the 1st child or in the 1st 2 children. These data suggest that any assumption that preferences for sons are generally more common than preferences for daughters in American urban culture is unsound. Preference for males is not intense enough to cause a higher sex ratio at birth for the country as a whole as contraceptive practice becomes more widespread.
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