Kabul— I am Setara and this is the first time that I am pregnant. I am 24. Our economic situation is not very good so I don’t go to the doctor unless I have a problem. I don’t eat anything special for nutrition. I eat whatever we have.
Some women deliver the baby at home and some say it is better in the hospital because the cleanliness is better. My idea is to deliver my child in hospital, but I have heard from my neighbors that the doctors do not behave well with them even when in a dire situation. I think doctors should help mothers so that their children will be born healthy.
I don’t know how many children I will have. We have not planned that, but my husband and my family all want the baby to be a boy, so I want it be a boy as well. Mostly in Afghanistan they give more value to boys.
By Setara as told to Zohra N.
Many countries give more value to boys Setara. So much so that in China due to infanticide { the practice in some societies of killing unwanted children soon after birth, in this case girls} there is not enough women and consequently tens of MILLIONS of men are destined to die single.
I have just posted this on another story but will repeat it here : It is the male who determines the sex of a child.
GENETICS –
The female carries two chromosomes both of them xx
The male carries two also , but they are …………….. x y
The male sperm impregnates female egg with an X = girl
The male sperm impregnates female egg with a Y = boy
Child planning is the most important decision you will make in your life .
http://www.al-islam.org/islamic-edicts-on-family-planning/birth-control
Several of the writers stories have mentioned the bad attitude of Afghan doctors. Do you have female
doctor’s available? They might be more sympathetic as men have no concept at all of labor pain .
Good luck with your pregnancy and birth, Setara! I hope everything goes well and you have a healthy baby. I understand the pressure to give birth to a boy, but it is not in your control. I have a son and a daughter, and they are both wonderful people. I understand your concerns about the way doctors treat women in the hospital. You need to be strong. Use your voice. You do not have to become a baby-making machine. You are going to become a mother soon and you want Afghanistan to be a good place for future men and women.