The two issues in the field of fertility that have received widest publicity in the recent times in India are the rapidly growing number of clinics that are performing amniocentesis, which is followed by female foeticide and the birth of a test-tube baby in Bombay.

The importance of postpartum amenorrhoea for reducing fertility is especially pronounced in a developing country like Bangladesh where levels of contraceptive use have until recently remained relatively low. The duration of postpartum amenorrhoea in Bangladesh is among the longest in the world.

With the increase in the urbanization and industrialization, the concept of family in India, which once was to create and maintain a common culture among the members of the family, is undergoing changes.

The Indian family welfare program seeks to promote the two-child norm by offering couples the opportunity to choose voluntarily the family planning method best suited to their needs.

The traditional theory of demographic transition developed by Professor F.W. Notestein and his colleagues has occupied the center stage in the demographic literature for quite a long time. This theory was developed on the basis of the demographic experience of the developed world.

Over the past couple of decades, if not more, Kerala, a state in southern India, has drawn both international and national attention for its achievements in demographic transition with fertility reaching below replacement level and under 5 mortality comparing with most of the developed countries.

Reproductive health services thus imply the enabling of individuals, both males and females, to decide freely and responsibly, the number, spacing and timing of their children. For this they must have the information and the means to attain the highest standard of sexual and reproductive health.

The high female infant mortality rates (Miller, 1985), the practice of female infanticide (Krishnaswamy, 1988), the neglect of female children with regard to access to health services, nutrition (Sen and Sengupta 1983) and education (Mankekar, 1985), and the sexual abuse of girls (Bhalerao, 1985)

Highlighted by sensational titles such as "The endangered sex" (Miller, 1981) or "More than 100 million women are missing" (Sen, 1992), studies have long drawn attention to the unfavourable life chances of females versus males in various parts of East and South Asia.

India is among the first group of countries along with others in Africa to identify the "girl child" as the focus of attention for improving the social and economic status of women.