The Department of Health (DoH) will investigate new findings this week to suggest that illegal sex selection abortions are being performed in the UK, and have resulted in a significant shortfall in the population of females.
A study by the Independent, which involved an analysis of data from the 2011 National Census by London's Imperial College, revealed significant discrepancies in the sex ratio of children within certain ethnic communities.
According to the findings, between 1,500 and 4,700 females had "disappeared" from the records of England and Wales, suggesting that the practice of sex selections abortions is widespread in the UK.
A spokesperson for the DoH said: “We can confirm that officials have been in touch with Imperial College. We continue to monitor birth ratios on a yearly basis and will consider any new studies as they are published.”
Consultation
Following the reports, senior Conservative MP, Sarah Wollaston, called on the Government to consider whether the gender of unborn babies should be concealed during ultrasound scans at the 13 and 20 week stages of pregnancy to minimise gender selection abortions.
She also called on the Department of Health to revisit its own finding last year that there was no evidence that women in certain ethnic communities were selectively aborting females.