What a ghastly and selfish couple to abondon babies which they had brought into the world, and what a crummy system in India which allows IVF for such elderly individuals.

David Bachauer, Manchester , UK

This story is a contradictory. Have the parents abandoned the children Or not? At 59 to have a baby - surely they must have had a scan to know the sex? Perhaps the man should be told that girls carry the father's genes as much as the boys do and girls can even maintain the family name.

kareema, Bielefeld, Germany

Has no one noticed that The Sun 'newspaper' ran this story and nothing has been confirmed?

Take a second and think.

Nick Goldie, Leeds, England

It's people like that that make me ashamed to be Indian sometimes.

I can't believe they would just ditch those twins!

Some people can never have children and these people just take advantage, they should ashamed and disgusted at their behavior.

Seetal Udeshi, London, UK,

It is crazy that these people are able to have children over here and dump them as they are not what they want. they should not be allowed back into the country. These poor girls are going to grow up knowing that they were abandoned by their unloving parents as they were the 'wrong sex.'

chris l, london,

Imagine the world which is full of lots of males & not enough of females in those societies that currently discriminating the baby girls. There will still be chance of them not able to continue their family name after the silly thoughts they had caused an imbalance society!!!!

jy, edinburgh, UK

My wife and I are in the midst of IUI treatment and this may lead to IVF. For people to attempt to select which child they wish to bring into this world is absolutely disgraceful. Children are children, regardless of sex, creed, religion or otherwise, this should not have been allowed to happen.

Nathan Giles, Nottingham,

who says girls cant keep their names when they get married & name any children their surnames, lots of kids have double barreled names of both mum AND dad, has that not occurred to them? Carry on the family name by all means but for goodness sake be sensible about it, children are precious!

Yewande Rae Yihana, Wickford, Essex

I think if you want to have a boy you should be allowed to have a boy. If you want a girl go for it also! However the guy in the above story needs to understand there are people out there crying about not being able to have kids! he has two beautiful girls i say be happy mate its better than none

shill koria, manchester,

I am absolutely disgusted by the couples actions and very disheartened by the generalisation of indian thinking written by Cheryl Lawton. My ethnic origin is Indian but I am born and bred in England so am British. Large majority of British indians are disgusted by how girls are thought of.

Prab Chima, Birmingham, UK

If the babies are "fit and well" why aren't they at home???

Ron Norton, Nuneaton,

Maya, S. Asia has provided many healthcare employees as they're willing to work for much less than they're worth. UK healthcare employees seek to gain recognition for work/study by appropriate remuneration than others migrating to our shores with such low self esteem where they accept low pay!

Lynda Wilson, Leeds, UK

This is absolutely terrible.
What makes me laugh is that some dolt below blames the government for this. How can you blame a UK government for this incident? It's a culture that has no bearing on anything the government could have done.

Jules, Oxford,

The article quotes a study showing that less girls are born to Indian mothers in the UK when the natural ratio is 45% female to 55% male worldwide. Amazingly this fascinating geographic influence on sex unknown to Medical Science goes unstudied. But then which Journal would publish the paper?

Guy Thomas, London, UK

Sex selection must only be permitted in extreme cases such as genetic illness which is only suffered by a particular sex, and even then if it is a disease which offers no quality of life.
Scientists playing god is never a going to be a good idea an example being this story.

rebecca, keele, uk

The little girls should go to a lovely adoptive set of parents who will love and cherish them for just being them.

The parents should be made to face charges of abandonment.

Lynda Wilson, Leeds, UK

Knowing the gender always takes the mystery out of having a child. And while men are important to any species... Females are the ones who give birth, so they are the ones more important to the survival of a species then men. You only need a few males for diversity, its females you need plenty of.

Blackmore, Southend, England

Colin- twins are almost always born very small, for obvious reasons. 37 weeks is twin full-term, and low weights for dates are standard, so it's perfectly normal for otherwise well and healthy ones to stay in special care for a little while, just like any other small/premature baby.

Kate, London, UK

Come on people , this is an article in the sensational Sun. You really should know better by now.

Gordon Marshall, Edinburgh, Scotland

No, sex selection should not be allowed anywhere. It is a ridiculous thought. A baby, girl or boy is unique and precious. Im a mother to two boys and a girl and would not have it any other way. People are never satisfied with materialistic things, now their not happy with the sex of the babies.....

Tania, Leeds, uk

If these savages abandon their children they should be prosecuted for child neglect.

Wayne Brookes, Worthing, England

Why only three cycles? Cost. Why between 23 and 39-years? Well that's got a sound Medical basis, the risk to mother & foetus goes up with maternal age, dramatically, both mortality (dying) & morbidity (suffering). This if further increased with twin, triplet pregnancies which are likely with IVF.

Guy Thomas, London, UK

So this couple can "use the system" wholly to their advantage. they get IVF treatment abroad presumably because they are refused here, then we all have to pick up the Costings of child birth etc.,and now they question whether they want the children after all. Animals treat their young better !!

Dougy from Milton Keynes , milton keynes , england

I think sex selection treatment should be allowed in uk as this will prevent some minorities not to abandon their babies if they are of the wrong sex. I have 4 daughters i would love to have a son to complete the family not for any other reason. I love my daughters equally if i had a son.

Zahida Arif, coventry, uk

Can we believe the NHS Trust - if the babies were born "healthy and well", why are they still being cared for in hospital and not at home with their parents?

Colin Macpherson, Gramat, France

Two questions if permitting.
Could anyone explain to layman like me the rationale behind NICE's recommendation of only three cycles of IVF treatment to mothers of age between 23 and 39-years at the time of treatment?
and why there are two sets of laws between countries?

Ganesan Kannuchamy, London, UK

Dear Cheryl Lawton,
As a proud British Asian born and bred in the U.K.,its lovely to see your ignorant labelling of the Indian, Pakistani and Chinese communities.The result of 40 years of immigration has been people like me. Hard working, educated people that contribute to society.Well said Maya.

Amit, London, England

India, Pakistan and China in particularly have huge gender imbalances. In part of India there are 8.7 girls born for every 10



i disagree with that. It's illegal of abandoning the babies and abortion in China.

Leeyuan23, Shanghai, China

Also I assume that all the people that posted read the Times to avoid sensationalist trash like the Sun.The fact that the hospital dispute the story and social services arent involved at this moment should tell you to withhold judgement for now maybe?

Amit, London, England

And now the NHS Trust disputes the claims that these parents actually abandoned the girls! Funny how quickly the indigeneous Brit's came out with claims of abuse, backwardness, and evil doing! Cultural exceptionalism at its most prolific, and executed at its best by Anglocentric Brit's as always!

P Singh, Mumbai, India

Regarding the rights and wrongs of sex selection, it would be justifiable if a couple with known gene defects, is likely to bear a child with incurable and totally disabling hereditary disease.

Sheena, Hudson, USA

Matt in Lawley - we've moved on in Britain since Henry VIII - women got the vote about 100 years ago in case you had n't noticed!

Sex discrimination which this clearly is, is illegal and the government should enforce the law

David, London,

has anyone commenting here actually read the article, instead of scanning the headline and getting pleasantly self-righteous? It clearly points out that the children have not been abandoned at all.

resha, Oxford,

i would like to clarify tis type of sick twisted gender selection is prevelant in India amongst sikhs and hindus and China. I am alkso classed as 'indian' but i am pakistani muslim and this is NOT pevelant in our culture it is against humanity the law and above all ISLAM TEACHINGS. This is clear.

Salma, coventry, uk

This is so shocking. Perhaps most shocking is that we are all ready to believe it. I don't think it's true, but I bet I wasn't alone in guessing their race before I'd read the story. I deeply resent being turned into a "racist" because the UK accepts intolerable behaviour from some minorities.

Liz, Bristol,

Um, has everyone making comments today misread the article? The hospital have refused to confirm the story and it is a rumour only! Nowhere does it state that this has definitely happened. If it had happened then I certainly concur with some comments but there is no evidence to show it has.

shelley, London, UK

The NHS trust denies this story and says that the couple have been visiting their daughters every day. The social services and police don't know anything about it and there are no witnesses - though the story is clearly not true, I am sure many people will use it to further their own prejudices.

Nina, London,

Absolutely disgusting. This is probably tip of the ice-berg. Gender selection, gender discrimination and female foeticide are social evils still prevelant in India, south asia and south-east asia. This couple should be put in jail, named and shamed. I am disgusted.

Rakesh, London, UK

More burden on the taxpayer, the unnamed family should be named, shamed and their passports revoked

steve tea, manchester, cheshire

Women can carry on family names as much as men in this day and age.
I am the only girl in 75years on my fathers side, and if i had children they would also have my last name.

annie, newport, gwent

The alledged 'abandonment' is not a fact; it's actually a unsubstantiated claim by the Sun.

With regard to the preference for a son to carry on the family name, this is common throughout the whole world, including anglo-saxons (remember Henry VIII?).

However, welfare and parent age is a concern.

Matt Langley, Crawley, UK.

That this couple were allowed this treatment at all is wrong, they are too old and certainly not good parent material. This case highlights how this technology must have more stringent guidlines applied to its practice. What they have done, and what they believe, is totally abhorrent.

wendy, belfast, northern ireland

Will this government do anything about what is clearly sex discrimination - no, because they value the vote of such cultural groups too much.

Same with forced marriages.

Shame on Labour - yet another example of their corruption.

David, London,

Can't these people, and I use the word lightly, be put in jail for what they have done? At least it would prevent them from doing it again.

Miss Dee, Tayside, UK

Just because you can doesn't mean you should. The woman is 59, the man 72. What should it matter to them that they've had girls? By the time these girls are old enough to marry their parents will probably be dead. No big weddings to pay for, no dowries. Is this what IVF is for? I don't think so.

thera, ellijay, usa

The only justification for sex selection is to avoid inheritance of a genetic problems which only manifest in a particular sex.

To try and design your family deliberately by choosing whether or not you have boys or girls is perverse. What happened to wanting them to be happy and healthy?

Nadia, Hamilton, Bermuda

One more thought. What if the mother wanted these girls and it is the father who is not having any of it?
What sane woman would undergo IVF at 59??
Spousal abuse never mind child abuse in abandoning them.

Nadia, Hamilton, Bermuda

Absolutely not! This attitude will have dire consequences on our natural biological demography. If anything should change it should be the inheritance of a name from the father.

Fred, London, England

But this isn't about 'Britain' - its about India! The racist comments above are not necessary or helpful.

If they are British citizens then I think action should be taken and it be made clear that any future children they have will be taken into care as they are unfit parents by definition.

Mike Homfray, Liverpool,

Can I adopt them please? The tragic thing is.. probably not, at least until they have been pushed from pillar to post by social services, homed with foster parents for years and are old enough and aware enough to be scarred by what has happened to them. So sad and shocking..

Millie, London, UK

Speechless!

Dave Kinsley, derby, uk

How come, in 2 weeks, that they haven't arrested the pair for child abandonment? Where are the parents? Why have they not been arrested and charged?

I expect direct debit payments to be set up from their bank accounts for the next 18 years as well btw if I'm paying for these kids.

James, London, United Kingdom

Sex selection i believe can be justified if you have more than 3 children of the same sex.
As a mother of 4 daughters i also had ivf in which i had twin girls, two of my daughters were concieved naturally, my husband and i would love to have a son.
These people should be taken to court .

sukhi, cap estate, st lucia

This is a disgraceful story. Name them and shame them. There is no justification for this couple's actions. These people have equated a child with an unwanted gift, discarded without a second thought. Pure and utter selfishness. Are they fit to be parents with those attitudes?

Robyn, Aberdeen, Scotland

Welcome to Britain in the 21st century.

Paul Van, London , UK.

It is just so scary to be a woman. To know that most countries hate women, and despise them so much that they can abandon them at birth. Even in Western cultures, we are only tolerated if we look a certain way.

Anoushka, London, UK

yes Cheryl - in villages. Abortion is rife here not to mention the huge no's of unwanted, unplanned, teenage pregnancy - that come from so-called "educated" people. Don't forget 'uncontrolled immigration" has also meant that S. Asia has provided the backbone of our health service for the past 40 yrs

maya, London,

That is beyond disgusting! Those people should be put in prison for abandoning the babies. I've never been so ashamed of being Indian-born, thanks to this horrible couple!

Shyam, Birmingham, UK

India, Pakistan and China in particularly have huge gender imbalances. In part of India there are 8.7 girls born for every 10 males.
Abortion, abandonment and infanticide are common practices in India.
This is what we have imported into Britain by 40 years of uncontrolled immigration begun by labour

Cheryl Lawton, London, UK

They don't deserve to be parents.

Chantel, Wales,

No it cannot. Having gone through ivf 4 times, i, like every other person i know who is going or gone through it are greatful for a child, whatever the sex. I think that this couple should be named and shamed for what they have done.

karen underwood, rainham, united kingdom

These people do not deserve to have children. A lot of people in this world would love to have two perfect baby girls. They should be very ashamed of their behaviour but sadly I doubt that they are.

Crueldrake, Nottingham, United Kingdom

Sex selection only shows the moral misery and total absence of character of those involved. It treats babies as a consumer product, a mere instrument of their own social satisfaction, devoid of 'self'.

People who abandon babies because they are of the wrong sex are underhumans, rascals, low-lifes

Rui, Lisbon, Portugal

This is a bloody disgrace. These people should NEVER have been permitted to do this anywhere in the civilised world.

mike rigby, blackburn,

Oh dear... They really are stuck in the past arent they

If there were no girls who would their sons marry

There are more men than women in the subcontinent already

Where does it end?

If they have been blessed with children at the heady age of 59 and 72 then why dump them now?

Henry North, London, UK

No i should not. Having gone through ivf 4 times myself, i, and many others that i know who are going through or have been through are greatful to have the please of being parents,no matter what the sex of the child is.

karen underwood, rainham, united kingdom