10 daughters and 19 years later, Haryana couple welcomes baby boy

A couple in Haryana's Fatehabad district welcomed their first baby boy after having 10 daughters over their 19 years of marriage. Their entire family is in a joyous mood over the arrival of the newest member. While Sanjay and his wife, Sunita, had long hoped for a son, he says they never discriminated against their daughters. He asserted that he raised all his daughters just as he would raise a boy, and ensured a decent education for them. The couple's eldest daughter is 18 years old today and is a student of Class 12.

Sanjay said that despite being unemployed, he continued to support the upbringing of his daughters. He earlier used to be a daily wage labourer, but employment opportunities under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) scheme have largely become scarce over the past year.

Sunita had a natural delivery for her 11th consecutive pregnancy. After the child was found slightly anaemic at birth, he was administered a blood transfusion and was later reported to be healthy.

Though the source of his new-found happiness is his son, Sanjay emphasised that girls are equal to boys. While one of the couple's daughters has been adopted by relatives, the rest nine live with them. The family has also emerged as a source of inspiration for maintaining strong family bonds in their village. The local sarpanch, Jyoti Devi, has announced that the couple will be felicitated. She said that Sanjay and Sunita are inspiring figures for a society that has a bad repute for killing girl children in the womb.

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