ABSTRACT
If the plans of Santal parents are sometimes thwarted by the wilful actions of their children, they may also be foiled by unwanted pregnancies. Santals do not doubt that semen is responsible for the making of a child but instead of assigning the sole role to men they credit women with semen also. Pregnancy does not always follow intercourse within the ‘danger period’ for while it is necessary to copulate in order to get a child, the grant of life rests ultimately with the Bidhi Bidhanta. Occasionally, long after marriage, steps are taken to avert additional conceptions. If, in spite of caution, an unmarried girl conceives she is immediately faced with a difficult decision - whether, on the one hand, to have the baby or, on the other, to procure an abortion. Abortion is not invariably successful and in certain cases it is not even tried.
