Ten daughters and finally a son! A woman and her labourer husband married for 19 years welcomed their 11th child in a Haryana hospital this week, raising concerns over maternal health and the age-old desire for families to have a son come what may.

It was a high risk delivery but both mother and child are doing fine, said Dr Narveer Sheoran of the Ojas Hospital and Maternity Home in Jind district’s Uchana town.

The 37-year-old woman was admitted to the hospital on January 3 and the baby was born the next day. She was back home in her village in adjoining Fatehabad district the next day.

“We were keen that there should be a son and some of my elder daughters also wished to have a brother,” the father, Sanjay Kumar, told PTI over the phone.

“It is my eleventh child now. I have 10 daughters too,” the 38-year-old said, adding that he works as a labourer.

Sanjay, who said he got married in 2007, said most of his daughters go to school and the eldest one studies in Class 12.

“Within my meagre means, I am trying to give my daughters a good education… Whatever has happened was God’s will and I am happy with it,” he said.

Questioned about the social media attention on his family and issues about a patriarchal mindset, he said, “it is not like that.”

The new father went on say, “I also think that girls are capable of achieving anything these days and they have proved their mettle in various fields. They are making everyone proud.”

In a video that has gone viral, Sanjay was asked to name his 10 daughters. He did so but fumbled a couple of times.

According to Sheoran, whose gynaecologist wife Dr Santosh ensured a safe delivery, said three units of blood had to be given to the mother.

“In the end, it was a normal delivery, and things were managed well,” the doctor said over the phone.

Haryana’s sex ratio has long been under the scanner. It saw a marked improvement in 2025 with 923:1,000, clocking a 13-point jump from 2024, but lower than the national average of 1,020 females per 1,000 males.