A Child is Born- 'A Child is Born' is an extract from Germaine Greer's book Sex and Destiny; The politics of Human fertility. She is a famous writer of Australia. She attracted us on the birth of a child in the society.

A child is born in many societies woman still go forth from their mother's houses at marriage to live with a mother-in-law. It is a truism of anthropolgy that such woman do not become members of their family until they have born a child. If a girl is lucky and her parents are a live, she goes to her mother's house for the last months of her pregnency and about the first three month of the baby's life. When the baby is born it is and occasion of joy for the whole family.

The naming ceremony is lovely. It is held when the boys in seven days old. A new dress is brought for it and a new sari for the mother. There is feasing and singign until late at night. The woman and girls-gather and singsongs. Garlands of turmeric and garlic are worn to ward off evil spirits. That is when the name is chosen....The ceremony is held for the birth of a boy or girl, of course it is considered better to have a boy, but the birth of a girl is celebrated with the same joy by the women in the family- They sit together eating adn singing. Some of us might be young unmarried girls, others aged ladies of forty or fifty. There are so many jokes, So much laughter.