Why a popular Tamil YouTuber is in trouble over gender reveal video of unborn child

A popular Tamil YouTuber’s gender reveal party for his unborn child has landed him in hot water. Flood vlogger Irfan has been issued a show-cause notice by the Tamil Nadu health department for revealing the sex of his to-be-born baby in a video on YouTube.

He was also asked to pull down the video posted on his YouTube channel Irfan’s View, which boasts 4.29 million subscribers.

But why has Irfan found himself in the middle of a controversy over the gender reveal video? Let’s understand.

Tamil YouTuber’s gender reveal video

Irfan posted a video on 18 May of him and his pregnant spouse visiting a hospital in Dubai. His wife took a prenatal sex determination test in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) city on 2 May, as per the footage.

In the video, Irfan points out that sex determination is illegal in India. “When I was born in 1993, my mother knew my gender. It was not a big issue then. It was stopped because many mad people were discriminating against the female gender,” he said, as per The News Minute (TNM).

Later, the pair hosted a ‘gender reveal’ party in Chennai. Irfan can be seen announcing the gender of the foetus to his relatives at the function in the video uploaded on 19 May, reported The Hindu. 

The guests, which also included some television stars, were wearing pink or blue to indicate what they believed would be the unborn baby’s gender, reported TNM.

While the gender reveal video amassed over two million views, Irfan’s Dubai trip vlog got nearly 1.1 million views, noted India Today.

Many congratulated the couple but the announcement also courted criticism, with some cautioning it could encourage others to travel abroad to find out the sex of their unborn child.

Trouble over gender reveal video

The Tamil Nadu Director of Medical and Rural Health Services has issued a show cause notice to Irfan over the gender reveal video.

He has been accused of violating the Pre-Conception and Pre–Natal Diagnostic Techniques (Prohibition of Sex Selection) Act, 1994.

As per The Hindu, the popular YouTuber has been sent a similar notice on behalf of the State-level authority responsible for the implementation of the Act.

The health department also ordered the Tamil Nadu Police’s Cyber Crime unit to remove the controversial video from social media, reported India Today.

Irfan reportedly said on Tuesday (21 May) that he took down the video.

A source told The Hindu, “Though the gender test was undertaken in Dubai, the video clipping is in Tamil and so many people have seen it and has given an impression among some of the womenfolk that it is normal to know the fetal gender."

The official statement from the Health and Family Welfare Department warned of legal action against individuals, scan centres and hospitals that determine the sex of the foetus.

“In a bid to take legal action, the enforcement officer has sent a notice to Irfan. Actions like this could lead to decline in birth of girl babies not just in Tamil Nadu but across the country,” NDTV cited the statement as saying.

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What does the law say?

The Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (Prohibition of Sex Selection) Act, 2003, also known as the PC-PNDT Act, bans the practice of determining the sex of the unborn child and using sex-selection technologies.

It was introduced to prevent gender -based abortions.

The legislation was first enforced in 1996 as the Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (Regulation and Prevention of Misuse) Act, 1994, to arrest the declining sex ratio in India. It came amid concerns about ultrasound technologies being used to determine the sex of the foetus, noted Indian Express.

The Act was amended in 2003 to expand its ambit by prohibiting preconception sex selection wherein medical practitioners attempt to influence the baby’s sex before conception.

The law states that “no person shall, by whatever means, cause or allow to be caused selection of sex before or after conception.”

It also bars ultrasound clinics, genetic counselling centres and genetic laboratories from carrying out the sex determination of the foetus. However, prenatal diagnostic techniques that help detect abnormalities in the unborn child like chromosomal abnormalities, genetic metabolic diseases, sex-linked genetic diseases and congenital anomalies are allowed.

While questions have arisen over the effective implementation of the Act, the sex ratio has steadily improved in India over the years. As per the Central government data, the sex ratio at birth improved by 918 in 2014-15 to 933 in 2022-23. It had stood at 876 female babies per 1000 male babies in 2005.

With inputs from agencies