Hyderabad, 27 July

An "illegal" surrogacy and baby-selling racket was busted with the arrest of eight persons, including the prime accused doctor and owner of a fertility clinic here, police said on Sunday.

The racket came to light after a couple discovered through a DNA test that the child, supposedly born through surrogacy, was not theirs, prompting them to approach the police.

The main accused, Dr A Namratha, 64, along with associates and agents, targeted vulnerable women, particularly those seeking abortions, and lured them into continuing pregnancies in exchange for money and other reasons, they said.

These newborns were then passed off as children conceived through surrogacy, misleading clients into believing the babies were biologically theirs, Deputy Commissioner of Police (North Zone- Hyderabad) S Rashmi Perumal said.

According to the police, they received a complaint from a victim couple stating that they had approached the fertility clinic in August 2024 for fertility and IVF consultation.

They met Dr Namratha, who, after conducting fertility-related tests, advised them to go for surrogacy.

The couple was directed to another branch of the clinic at Vishakapatnam for collection of specimens and were told that the surrogate will be arranged by the clinic and the embryo would be transplanted to the surrogate, the DCP said.

Over the course of nine months, the couple made several payments to the clinic.

In June this year, the complainant was informed that the surrogate had delivered a baby boy via C-section in Vishakapatnam.

Overall, the clinic took over Rs 35 lakh from the couple as consultation charges for the procedures, police said.

The baby boy was handed over to the complainant along with documentation which showed the registration of the child as having been born to the couple themselves after creating a "false" birth certificate document, police said.

"The baby was not shown as a child born to a surrogate, which drew their suspicion. Later, the couple went in for DNA test which revealed that the child’s DNA did not match theirs," Rashmi said.

When the couple tried to get in touch with the clinic they were refused any documentation and were threatened, which prompted them to approach the police, the senior police official said.

Based on the complaint, a detailed inquiry was conducted on Saturday which revealed that Dr Namratha was allegedly conducting a large-scale illegal surrogacy and fertility "scam".

The main accused operated fertility centers in Vijayawada, Secunderabad, Visakhapatnam, and Kondapur, police said.

Over the years, she expanded into unethical and illegal practices, collecting Rs 20-Rs 30 lakh from each client under false promises, police said.

In the present case, through agents, the original parents of the baby were identified (native of Assam and living in Hyderabad), who were handed over a paltry sum after taking the baby, police said.

On charges of baby selling, the original parents were also arrested, Rashmi said, adding the child has been handed over to ‘Shishu Vihar’ as per procedure.

The police official further termed the reports in certain sections of media as "untrue" that the child was having cancer and the IVF using sperm of some other person.

"It is a case wherein the victim couple were told that they were going in for surrogacy, but in reality the baby was sold by the original parents and that the baby was shown to this complainant couple (by the accused) as their child. But when they did the DNA test it was revealed as not matching with theirs," the DCP told PTI Videos.

With the help of the medical department, the clinic at Gopalapuram in Hyderabad was sealed, police said.

Any clients who protested were intimidated and threatened by Namratha's son (advocate by profession), who ran an office on the same premises and managed the financial transactions of his mother, they said.

More than 10 cases were previously registered in different police stations in Andhra Pradesh.

The investigation is ongoing, and further legal action is being pursued.

The Medical and Health Department had cancelled the registration of the involved fertility clinic previously, but the accused continued to operate from the building and put the name of another certified doctor on the official letterheads of the clinic.