“It is the father / man who is responsible for determining the sex (gender) of the child and not the mother. So, dear (would be) parents, whether it is a boy or a girl it is your precious child, your bundle of joy. Accept it and cherish it.” – Dr. Narayana Reddy
Rohini and her parents were shattered. Raman, Rohini’s husband is threatening to marry again as she is not able to deliver a male child. “It is all her fault. Without a male child how will my family lineage continue,” declared Raman.
This scenario is common in our country. The blueprint determining the sex of a child is laid down in the parent’s chromosomes. The nucleus of each body cell holds 23 pairs of chromosomes. When the cell splits into two to build or repair body tissues, its chromosomes double up and divide so that each new daughter cell also receives 23 pairs.
But the sperms and the ovum are different. When the human body makes the sex cells, each get only 23 chromosomes, not pairs, one of which carries a sex determining factor. Thus when an egg cell is produced in a woman it will contain 22 chromosomes which contain other hereditary material and one chromosome (XX) which contain sex determining factor namely X. Similarly, when a sperm is produced, it will contain 22 chromosomes and one chromosome containing sex determining factor, which can be either ‘X’ or ‘Y’. If an egg is fertilised by a sperm containing ‘X’ chromosome, the resulting child will have two ‘X’ chromosome and will be a female. If fertilisation is by a sperm with ‘Y’, then the child will have one ‘X’ and one ‘Y’ chromosome and the child will be male.
It is, therefore, the father/man who is responsible for determining the sex (gender) of the child and not the mother. So, dear (would be) parents, whether it is a boy or a girl it is your precious child, your bundle of joy. Accept it and cherish it. – Deccan Chronicle, Chennai, 30 Nov. 2011
» The writer is a sexologist.
» You can mail him at dr.narayana@deccanmail.com.
Filed under: india | Tagged: culture, demography, ethics, gender, health, sex, sex discrimination, sexology | 1 Comment »
