A British researcher says sex selective abortion is behind the lower than normal female ratio in Indian childbirths in the UK.
Oxford University's Dr Sylvie Dubuc discovered that there were 1040 to 1080 boys for every 1000 girls born to Indian mothers in the UK between 1990 to 2005.
"What I have found is that the proportion of boys over girls has increased over time... it increased in a way that's not normal."
In families with three or more children, the ratio is even more skewed, with 1130 boys for every 1000 girls. Dubuc estimates that almost 1 in 10 girls are missing from birth statistics.
''The most plausible explanation for this trend is sex selective abortion that has been used by a small minority of families, where the mother is born in India and she wants to have a boy,'' said Dubuc. Sex determination tests, which are banned in India, are commonplace in the UK, usually to test for genetic abnormalities.
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