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Editor”s Note: This revealing article, “Tanya Davies recounts western Sydney mum’s shocking sex-selection abortion story” by Edward Boyd from the Daily Telegraph, tells a shocking story about sex-selective abortion in Sydney.

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Liberal MP Tanya Davies has recounted a heart-wrenching story of an Indian woman living in western Sydney with her four daughters who was abandoned by her husband.

A Sydney woman of Indian descent has revealed a shocking culture within the Sikh community of aborting female fetuses — recounting a family member who aborted 17 times before conceiving a boy.

The mother, who asked to be known by the pseudonym Jasprit­, said her Sikh husband abandoned her and their four daughters after she refused to abort the pregnancies.

Jasprit believes situations like hers are common within the Sikh community, and ­decided to speak out after hearing Liberal MP Tanya Davies lobby for an abortion bill amendment banning sex selection­.

The amendment failed, with parliament instead agreeing to a review in 12 months if there was evidence female babies­ had been aborted.

Jasprit was unsure how the government would know if sex selection abortions were taking place “because it is all happening­ under the surface”.

“I am aware of many Indian Sikh mothers who have flown back to India … and checked the fetus by ultrasound,” she said.

“If they find out if it’s the wrong sex — a female fetus — they will abort while they are in India on holidays before returning to Australia.”

Last week in parliament, Ms Davies referred to a 2018 La Trobe University study finding the ratio of boys and girls born to Chinese and Indian mothers in Victoria were higher than the state average.

Jasprit said, after an ultrasound showed her first child was female,

“both my mother-in-law and husband told me to abort … I said no.”

Jasprit said her ex-husband and mother-in-law pressured her each time she was pregnant with her daughters to abort.

“After giving birth to my fourth daughter, my husband told me … he had made a decision­ to remarry, as he wanted a son,” she said.

“Most Indian Sikhs I believe go to great lengths to avoid having a baby girl,” Jasprit said.

“It’s a cultural thing … even those Indian Sikhs who are ­living in Australia.”

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