Coming from a society with a long held belief that the male child is the only one capable of continuing a family legacy, will the female child ever be enough? Are we really a progressive society or we are still being held back by archaic ideologies and ways of thinking. Is the fight towards helping the girl child achieve her dreams (irrespective of whatever it is) going to be a reality? Or is it just some cheap talk we engage in?

I wrote this article a couple of months ago, but I never finalized it to publish it. I did not think myself ready enough to start a conversation on this. But in the days leading up to today, I have done a lot of engagement on this matter and I believe it is time to share my thoughts.

A couple of months ago, a media outlet broadcasted news of a young couple that had recently been delivered of four female quadruplets. Amazing right? Though not an easy task when it comes to taking care of them, one would say the couple is really blessed. I thought to myself, these folks are lucky. Some people have not had the opportunity to conceive and deliver a baby. But that is the life we live. Its not fair.

One thing that struck me during the discourse was the desire of the couple to have another baby. The reason, I found very abhorring (to say the least) and very disappointing. Not to mention, that the couple were relying on the benevolence of people to cater for the quadruplets since they were not financially capable of doing so by themselves.

The reason for this couple’s intent to have another baby, was their desire to have a male child. Having four girls wasn’t enough, definitely not. Because the family legacy could only be continued by a male child. I’d dare say, a sick male child would be much preferred over a healthy female child.

Right there, the fate of the girls had been set. They were not enough and will never be enough. And the single question that came to mind was, does the sex of a person place a limitation on their mental and physical capabilities? What makes a male child desirous over a female child? Aren’t we supposed to raise our kids to be human, rather than being boys or girls?

Will the fight to alleviate the undermining of the girl child ever be achieved, if right from birth she is told she is not enough? I leave it to us to decide….