AHMEDABAD: A couple from Gujarat’s tribal district Dahod has finally opted for a family planning operation after conceiving 17 children, which includes 16 daughters and a son.

Hum do, hamare 17 would have become 18 if the entire village hadn’t come together to convince Ramsinh, 44, to let his wife, Kanu Sangot, 40, undergo a tubectomy a fortnight ago. “The villagers persuaded us to put a full stop to our family expansion,“ Ramsinh told TOI over phone. He admitted that his family kept getting bigger in the quest for another son. Kanu delivered their 16th daughter Smruta in September 2015. Ramsinh does not remember the delivery date of their 17th child, and the couple have not named her yet.

Vijay, his son, was born in 2013 but Ramsinh wanted another boy. “First, I wanted a son for our old age. After I fathered so many girls, I desperately wanted sons to look after my girls. But that didn’t happen,“ Ramsinh said. Living in a dilapidated mud house, Ramsinh grows maize and wheat on two bighas of land. He and his wife also work as farm labourers to earn extra income to feed their large family. “The gram panchayat and village elders persuaded Ramsinh and Kanu to limit their family as it is difficult to raise so many children in times of inflation,“ says Viralben, sarpanch of Zaribujarg.

Of the 16 daughters, two died, while two others left the house after getting married. Two others were sent to Rajkot to work as farm labourers.

Himanshu Kaushik | TNN