Why do couples prefer having a baby boy over a baby girl?

I quite i agree with you but not in all places. I have seen husband divocing the wife simple because she has given birth to baby girl on many ocassion. However here in south african it seem the reverse is the case bacause they belive male child grow to be irreponsibilty.

I think in todays modern age there should be no discrimination about having a baby boy or baby girl! both are gifts from God Almighty and should be cherised without any objection! but i do agree that sometimes couples do prefer having a baby boy, the reasons could be : 1) the lineage of a family is always continued by a male child 2) Parents consider a male child as their potential supporter when they get old. I have also seen that its the mother who wants a male child more than the father!

I know in China this is an issue because of the law where there's only allowed one child per family. Alot of people over there want a boy because they want their family name to be carried on. So alot of girl babies get aborted, or possibly killed after they are born. I live in Canada, and I don't notice most people here wanting a boy more than a girl. When I was pregnant, I was secretly hoping that I would have a girl, because I always wanted my first child to be a daughter. I would have been happy with either a boy or a girl, but I was definitely thrilled when I ended up having a girl!

Some fathers want that their surname will be passed to the next generation.

I agree with you - they ought to be happy with a baby of either gender. However, I think that sociological conditioning is the reason for their bias which springs from two things: 1. Continuing the family name (outmoded I know, but probably still a factor) 2. Boys can't accidentally get pregnant, so the responsibility for any teenage pregnancy would be with the girl in question. I personally think that this factor is disgraceful, but for some reason, many parents bring their sons up without any sense of human decency or personal responsibility. Boys are allowed to get away with almost anything, whereas girls are bullied into taking responsibility, even for those things which aren't their fault.

I don't really get the preference for boys either. I was really glad to have a girl.