Haryana woman gives birth to son after 10 daughters in high-risk case

Sunita (37), from Fatehabad district in Haryana safely delivered her 11th child – a boy – after having 10 daughters during her 19-year-long marriage to Sanjay Kumar.

Doctors have described the birth of their son as a medically high-risk case, highlighting the dangers associated with repeated pregnancies, as well as the importance of timely maternal care.

Delivery complications

Sunita was set to deliver the baby on January 4, for which the family travelled nearly 50 km to the Ojas Hospital and Maternity Home, in Uchana town of Jind district.

According to Dr Narveer Sheoran, the delivery was classified as high risk, and the mother required three units of blood, which were arranged from Jind. The delivery was a success and both the mother and the newborn were stable.

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"It was a high-risk delivery, but both the mother and baby are fine," said Dr Sheoran. Doctors said that the repeated pregnancies had weakened the woman’s uterus, with her being anemic and the baby being dehydrated, according to news reports.

Once things settled down, she was discharged soon after and returned to her village in the neighbouring Fatehabad district.

Family history

The couple and their 11 children are residents of Dhani Bhojraj village in the Bhuna area. They were married in 2007, and Sanjay (38) is a daily wage labourer and the sole breadwinner of his family.

He said most of his daughters are attending school, with the eldest studying in Class 12, adding that despite having a limited income, he tries to provide education to all his children.

Sanjay spoke to PTI and said, “We were keen that there should be a son and some of my elder daughters also wished to have a brother."

Gender bias dispelled

Netizens quickly cornered the family, questioning them about putting pressure on the daughters and the mother.

Further, the family got slammed when a viral video surfaced where the father, Sanjay, struggled to recall the names of all of his daughters. However, he denied all claims of gender bias or patriarchal bias and said, “It is not like that.”

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The baby's ten sisters have named their newborn brother ‘Dilkhush’, which means ‘a happy heart’, as a way to express the joy and happiness his birth has brought to the family. Sanjay said that his family has been blessed with ten daughters, all of whom he considers a gift from God.

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This story may seemingly have a happy ending, but there is an increasing scrutiny over Haryana's sex ratio, which improved to 923 women per 1,000 men in 2025, although it remains below the national average. The state clearly has to do more to ensure gender equity.

(With agency inputs)