A growing number of parents are eschewing¹ tradition and attempting to ensure that their second child is female.

越来越多的中国家长正在避开传统，尝试确保自己的二胎是女孩。

Liu Min lay on the bed quietly, looking at her newborn second son. Despite her joy, she felt a sense of loss - because she had failed to have a daughter.

刘敏静静地躺在床上，看着她刚出生的第二个儿子。尽管很开心，但她觉得若有所失--因为她没得到一个女儿。

Four years ago, the 31-year-old Beijing resident gave birth to her first son.

四年前，这位31岁的北京居民生了第一个儿子。

To care for him, Liu resigned her job in the legal department of an insurance company, sacrificing an annual salary of 200,000 yuan ($29,500).

为了照顾儿子，刘女士辞去了自己在保险公司法务部门的工作，牺牲了20万的年薪（折合29500美元）。

When the "one-child policy" was phased out last year, Liu and her husband decided² to have another child. They had another boy.

去年，独生子女政策取消后，刘敏和她的丈夫决定再要一个孩子。于是他们有了第二个儿子。

"Although having a second child made life more difficult and increased the pressure on us, we still want to have a daughter," she said.

她说：“尽管二胎让生活更加艰难，增加了我们的压力，但是我们还想要一个女儿。”

While her "obsession³" with having a daughter is "a challenge to my parents' patriarchal ideology⁴", she is more concerned about the pressures of modern life: "In Beijing, the average home can cost from 5 million to 10 million yuan. I worry about the cost of education, marriage and homes for my sons in the future."

尽管她对女儿的痴迷是对父辈“父权意识形态”的挑战，但她更忧心的是现代生活的压力：“在北京，住宅均价500万到1000万。我担心儿子未来的教育、婚姻和置家费用。”

Liu was born in Ding'an county, Hainan, China's southernmost province, in 1985. She was the family's fourth daughter.

1985年，刘女士出生于中国最南端的海南省定安县。她是家里的第四个女孩。

Her infant name was Zhao Di, meaning "bringing a younger brother", which she was given because "my parents especially wanted a son (next time around)".

她的婴儿名是招弟，意思是给家里带来一个更小的弟弟，她之所以被这样命名，是因为父母很想下次要一个儿子。

When she was 2, her family had a fifth child - a boy.

当她两岁的时候，家里有了第五个孩子--一个男孩。

"When my brother was born, my family invited all our relatives and neighbors to a feast. We lit firecrackers all day," she recalled. "In the traditional view of people in my hometown, only boys can keep the family line alive."

她回忆道：“当我的弟弟出生时，我的家人宴请了所有的亲戚和邻居。我们放了一天爆竹。在我们家乡人的传统观念里，只有男孩能延续香火。”