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Of the 2,278 Indian children adopted in Switzerland between 1979 and 2002, 1,550 (or 68%) were girls and 728 (32%) were boys.[FN1 Federal Statistical Office, Vital statistics, Adoptions by canton, sex and citizenship prior to adoption of the adopted person 1979–2020.] This striking girl-to-boy ratio was also observed in the cantons of Zurich and Thurgau in the same period.[FN2 idem.] While couples in Switzerland preferred to adopt Indian girls, couples in India preferred boys.[FN3 M. J. Antony, Child Adoption. Law and Malpractices, New Delhi 1984, p. 58.]
Social science research cites several reasons for this. If a married couple in India adopted a son, the line of inheritance remained intact. When their son married, they did not have to provide a dowry. Patriarchal norms played a part. A son had more say within the family whereas a daughter's role was to obey. Statistical surveys from the 1980s show that son preference could have serious consequences for daughters. Daughters were more likely to suffer from malnutrition and were less likely to receive medical care, leading to higher rates of morbidity and mortality among girls.[FN4 Monica Das Gupta, Jiang Zhenghua, Li Bohua, Xie Zhenming, Woojin Chung und Bae Hwa-Ok, "Why is Son preference so Persistent in East and South Asia? A Cross-Country Study of China, India and the Republic of Korea", The Journal of Development Studies 40/2 (2003), p. 153–187. Cf. also Radha Bhatt, "Why Do Daughters Die?", in: Shakti (ed.), In Search of Our Bodies. A Feminist View on Woman, Health, and Reproduction in India, Bombay 1987, p. 14–19.]
Couples in Switzerland who wanted to adopt an Indian child usually indicated their preference in the application they submitted to the agency. The future adoptive child's sex was negotiable. Adoption International noted in one family's file that "If there were no other option, they would also take the boy. But they are still set on a girl."[FN5 StATG 4'635, 0/0, written record of phone call with Adint, 3.1.1984.] Some couples also explained their preference: "We would like another girl [...]. We have the feeling that we will have fewer problems with two girls."[FN6 StATG 4'635, 0/1, letter from an adoptive mother to Adoption International, 12.2.1987.] Thinking in terms of traditional gender roles, the Swiss Federal Aliens Office also thought a girl would have an easier life: "Access to social and professional life also poses more challenges for boys than for girls."[FN7 BAR E4110.03#2001/64#205*, presentation "Die Praxis hinsichtlich der Erteilung von Aufenthaltsbewilligungen für ausländische Pflege- und Adoptivkinder in der Schweiz" (practice regarding the granting of residence permits for foreign foster and adoptive children in Switzerland) by René Pachter, Swiss Federal Aliens Office, at a regional conference of directors of immigration police in the cantons of eastern Switzerland and their deputies on 8 and 9. 6. 1978 in Savognin.]
