A boy reaches out to touch the face of his younger sister in Wuhan, Hubei province. [Photo by Kun Shao / For China Daily]

Nonmedical abortions

In 2003, the Family Planning Commission, the Ministry of Health and the State Food and Drug Administration jointly issued The Provisions on Banning Identifying the Gender of a Fetus for Any Nonmedical Need and Artificial Termination of Pregnancy Due to Preference of Gender, which effectively banned abortions based on the gender of the fetus.

But today, many parents want to know the gender of their unborn baby.

The doctor who conducted the check on Wang's wife said many parents who visit private hospitals for prenatal checks had managed to learn the gender of their baby through various channels: "In some cases, the baby's gender is not as hoped, but most parents still chose to keep the child rather than abort it."

In 2014, authorities in parts of Henan and in Jiangsu province launched a crackdown on the identification of the gender of unborn children and abortions conducted for nonmedical reasons.

The move was intended to rebalance the gender ratio at birth.

Authorities stipulated that parents with permission to have two children, but who aborted a child because of gender preference would have their permission revoked.

In February, a maternity website visited by 10 million people asked in a survey: "Would you choose an abortion if the gender of your fetus was not what you wanted?"

More than 90 percent of 1,000 mothers who responded replied, "I would accept whatever comes to me".

However, for many grandparents living in rural areas and small towns, a grandson is still more welcome than a granddaughter.

Liu Min's mother-in-law has left her home in a small county in Hunan province to look after her newborn grandson in the capital.

"It's quite hard to raise a boy nowadays", she said doubtfully, but she was unable to conceal her pride and joy when she held the boy.

China Features is a feature department of Xinhua News Agency, which writes indepth stories for overseas readers.