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Telangana’s surrogacy scam: The business of selling babies Premium

Telangana’s surrogacy scam: The business of selling babies 
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<h2 class&equals;"sub-title">In August 2024&comma; a couple from Rajasthan travelled to Secunderabad for an IVF procedure&period; A doctor at a clinic they approached convinced them to opt for surrogacy instead&period; After paying ₹30 lakh and getting a baby a year later&comma; the couple realised through DNA testing that the child was not theirs&period; <b>Serish Nanisetti<&sol;b> and<b> Siddharth Kumar Singh<&sol;b> report on the surrogacy scam in Telangana<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<p><&sol;p>&NewLine;<div id&equals;"content-body-69883313" class&equals;"articlebodycontent col-xl-9 col-lg-12 col-md-12 col-sm-12 col-12">&NewLine;<div class&equals;"schemaDiv" id&equals;"schemaDiv" itemprop&equals;"articleBody">&NewLine;<p><span class&equals;"drop-caps">T<&sol;span>he Secunderabad railway station in Telangana is a noisy transit hub&period; Thousands of people enter and exit the concourse every day&period; Ad jingles in Hindi&comma; Telugu&comma; English&comma; and Bengali&comma; about the various medical procedures offered by hospitals across the city&comma; blare over the din&period; Billboards outside the station feature smiling couples with babies&period; The city&comma; along with Hyderabad&comma; is a significant hub for medical tourism in India&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>In August 2024&comma; after having done some research&comma; Sonam Singh and her husband Akshay travelled to Secunderabad from Kuharwas village near Jhunjhunu in Rajasthan for an in vitro fertilisation &lpar;IVF&rpar; procedure&period; They rented a house near the railway station and began searching on the Internet for hospitals nearby&period;&NewLine;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<div class&equals;"also-read print-hide" data-ga-label&equals;"AlsoReadArticle">&NewLine;<div class&equals;"element">&NewLine;<div class&equals;"title">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;Illegal surrogacy and baby-selling racket busted in Hyderabad&semi; fertility clinic head among 10 arrested<&sol;div>&NewLine;<div class&equals;"picture"><&sol;div>&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;<p>Near the railway station&comma; they found the Universal Srushti Fertility Centre&comma; which promised them an 85&percnt; success rate for an IVF procedure&period; The hopeful couple met the owner&comma; Pachipala Namratha aka Athaluri Namratha&comma; 64&period;&NewLine;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<div class&equals;"article-picture ">&NewLine;<div class&equals;"picture zoom-img "><img src&equals;"data&colon;image&sol;gif&semi;base64&comma;R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP&sol;&sol;&sol;ywAAAAAAQABAAACAUwAOw&equals;&equals;" fifu-lazy&equals;"1" fifu-data-sizes&equals;"auto" fifu-data-srcset&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;i1&period;wp&period;com&sol;th-i&period;thgim&period;com&sol;public&sol;incoming&sol;1kxgm7&sol;article69883815&period;ece&sol;alternates&sol;FREE&lowbar;1200&sol;&lowbar;DSC0950&period;JPG&quest;ssl&equals;1&w&equals;75&resize&equals;75&ssl&equals;1 75w&comma; https&colon;&sol;&sol;i1&period;wp&period;com&sol;th-i&period;thgim&period;com&sol;public&sol;incoming&sol;1kxgm7&sol;article69883815&period;ece&sol;alternates&sol;FREE&lowbar;1200&sol;&lowbar;DSC0950&period;JPG&quest;ssl&equals;1&w&equals;100&resize&equals;100&ssl&equals;1 100w&comma; https&colon;&sol;&sol;i1&period;wp&period;com&sol;th-i&period;thgim&period;com&sol;public&sol;incoming&sol;1kxgm7&sol;article69883815&period;ece&sol;alternates&sol;FREE&lowbar;1200&sol;&lowbar;DSC0950&period;JPG&quest;ssl&equals;1&w&equals;150&resize&equals;150&ssl&equals;1 150w&comma; https&colon;&sol;&sol;i1&period;wp&period;com&sol;th-i&period;thgim&period;com&sol;public&sol;incoming&sol;1kxgm7&sol;article69883815&period;ece&sol;alternates&sol;FREE&lowbar;1200&sol;&lowbar;DSC0950&period;JPG&quest;ssl&equals;1&w&equals;240&resize&equals;240&ssl&equals;1 240w&comma; https&colon;&sol;&sol;i1&period;wp&period;com&sol;th-i&period;thgim&period;com&sol;public&sol;incoming&sol;1kxgm7&sol;article69883815&period;ece&sol;alternates&sol;FREE&lowbar;1200&sol;&lowbar;DSC0950&period;JPG&quest;ssl&equals;1&w&equals;320&resize&equals;320&ssl&equals;1 320w&comma; https&colon;&sol;&sol;i1&period;wp&period;com&sol;th-i&period;thgim&period;com&sol;public&sol;incoming&sol;1kxgm7&sol;article69883815&period;ece&sol;alternates&sol;FREE&lowbar;1200&sol;&lowbar;DSC0950&period;JPG&quest;ssl&equals;1&w&equals;500&resize&equals;500&ssl&equals;1 500w&comma; https&colon;&sol;&sol;i1&period;wp&period;com&sol;th-i&period;thgim&period;com&sol;public&sol;incoming&sol;1kxgm7&sol;article69883815&period;ece&sol;alternates&sol;FREE&lowbar;1200&sol;&lowbar;DSC0950&period;JPG&quest;ssl&equals;1&w&equals;640&resize&equals;640&ssl&equals;1 640w&comma; https&colon;&sol;&sol;i1&period;wp&period;com&sol;th-i&period;thgim&period;com&sol;public&sol;incoming&sol;1kxgm7&sol;article69883815&period;ece&sol;alternates&sol;FREE&lowbar;1200&sol;&lowbar;DSC0950&period;JPG&quest;ssl&equals;1&w&equals;800&resize&equals;800&ssl&equals;1 800w&comma; https&colon;&sol;&sol;i1&period;wp&period;com&sol;th-i&period;thgim&period;com&sol;public&sol;incoming&sol;1kxgm7&sol;article69883815&period;ece&sol;alternates&sol;FREE&lowbar;1200&sol;&lowbar;DSC0950&period;JPG&quest;ssl&equals;1&w&equals;1024&resize&equals;1024&ssl&equals;1 1024w&comma; https&colon;&sol;&sol;i1&period;wp&period;com&sol;th-i&period;thgim&period;com&sol;public&sol;incoming&sol;1kxgm7&sol;article69883815&period;ece&sol;alternates&sol;FREE&lowbar;1200&sol;&lowbar;DSC0950&period;JPG&quest;ssl&equals;1&w&equals;1280&resize&equals;1280&ssl&equals;1 1280w&comma; https&colon;&sol;&sol;i1&period;wp&period;com&sol;th-i&period;thgim&period;com&sol;public&sol;incoming&sol;1kxgm7&sol;article69883815&period;ece&sol;alternates&sol;FREE&lowbar;1200&sol;&lowbar;DSC0950&period;JPG&quest;ssl&equals;1&w&equals;1600&resize&equals;1600&ssl&equals;1 1600w" fifu-data-src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;i1&period;wp&period;com&sol;th-i&period;thgim&period;com&sol;public&sol;incoming&sol;1kxgm7&sol;article69883815&period;ece&sol;alternates&sol;FREE&lowbar;1200&sol;&lowbar;DSC0950&period;JPG&quest;ssl&equals;1" data-original&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;i1&period;wp&period;com&sol;th-i&period;thgim&period;com&sol;public&sol;incoming&sol;1kxgm7&sol;article69883815&period;ece&sol;alternates&sol;FREE&lowbar;1200&sol;&lowbar;DSC0950&period;JPG&quest;ssl&equals;1" alt&equals;"A view of the Srushti Fertility Centre in Secunderabad&period;" title&equals;"A view of the Srushti Fertility Centre in Secunderabad&period;" class&equals;" lazy" width&equals;"100&percnt;" height&equals;"100&percnt;"><&sol;div>&NewLine;<p class&equals;"caption">&NewLine;<p> A view of the Srushti Fertility Centre in Secunderabad&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine; &vert; Photo Credit&colon;<br &sol;>&NewLine; G&period; Ramakrishna&NewLine; <&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><span itemtype&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;schema&period;org&sol;ImageObject" itemscope&equals;"itemscope" itemprop&equals;"image"><&sol;span><meta itemprop&equals;"url" content&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;th-i&period;thgim&period;com&sol;public&sol;incoming&sol;1kxgm7&sol;article69883815&period;ece&sol;alternates&sol;FREE&lowbar;1200&sol;&lowbar;DSC0950&period;JPG"><meta content&equals;"1200" itemprop&equals;"width"><meta content&equals;"675" itemprop&equals;"height"><&sol;div>&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;The test results showed that we were medically fit to conceive&comma;” says Sonam&comma; speaking over the phone from Kuharwas&period; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;But the doctor insisted that we opt for surrogacy&period; She told us that it was safer and more reliable&period; She also assured us that the clinic would use our sperm and egg&comma; and also handle all the paperwork and legalities&period;”<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>While an IVF procedure can cost anywhere between ₹2 lakh and ₹6 lakh per cycle&comma; Namratha told the couple that surrogacy would cost them ₹30 lakh&period; She asked Sonam and Akshay to transfer half the amount through their bank account and pay the remaining in cash&comma; supposedly for the surrogate&period; Convinced&comma; the couple made their first payment on August 16&comma; 2024&period; According to the First Information Report filed by Akshay&comma; Namratha also promised the couple that &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;a healthy child &lbrack;would be&rsqb; delivered&&num;8230&semi; after DNA confirmation&period;”&NewLine;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Nearly a year later&comma; on June 5&comma; Sonam and Akshay were handed a baby at Lotus Hospital in Visakhapatnam&period; However&comma; the couple grew suspicious when Namratha’s clinic refused to perform the DNA test&period; They took the infant to the DNA Forensics Laboratory in Vasant Kunj&comma; Delhi&period; To their shock&comma; the results showed that the baby was not theirs&period; When they returned to Secunderabad to confront Namratha&comma; she had disappeared&period;&NewLine;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Sonam and Akshay approached the Gopalpuram police in Secunderabad&comma; which investigated the matter and uncovered a baby-selling racket&period; The police booked Namratha under Sections 61&comma; 316&comma; 335&comma; 336&comma; and 340 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita Act&comma; 2023&comma; which deal with criminal conspiracy&comma; criminal breach of trust by carriers&comma; forgery of documents&comma; and related offences&period; They also booked her under Sections 38&comma; 39&comma; and 40 of the Surrogacy &lpar;Regulation&rpar; Act&comma; 2021&comma; which deal with prohibitions&comma; punishments&comma; and penalties related to surrogacy practices&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<div class&equals;"also-read print-hide" data-ga-label&equals;"AlsoReadArticle">&NewLine;<div class&equals;"element">&NewLine;<div class&equals;"title">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;Illegal surrogacy racket&colon; Telangana Human Rights Commission takes suo moto cognisance <&sol;div>&NewLine;<div class&equals;"picture"><&sol;div>&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;<h4 class&equals;"sub&lowbar;head">Sourcing surrogates<br &sol;>&NewLine;<&sol;h4>&NewLine;<p>According to the Gopalapuram police&comma; Universal Srushti Fertility Centre has cheated at least 15 couples&period; Promising these couples a baby through surrogacy&comma; it has charged them between ₹20 lakh and ₹30 lakh each&comma; and handed them babies not related to them&period; It has also furnished falsified documents&comma; say the police&period; An investigation has revealed that the clinic paid commissions to smaller centres for referrals of potential surrogate mothers and women who wanted to undergo abortions&comma; forged medical reports&comma; and operated without proper licensing&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>According to the police&comma; an agent called Dhanasri Santoshi struck a deal between a couple from Assam and the clinic&period; They say the Assamese couple’s baby was given to the couple from Rajasthan&period; The police have arrested the couple from Assam on charges of selling their baby&period;&NewLine;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Instead of getting ₹15 lakh&comma; the couple from Assam got ₹90&comma;000 for selling their baby&comma;” says a police officer&period; The baby has been moved to foster care at Shishu Vihar&comma; a childcare centre under the Women and Child Welfare Department&period;&NewLine;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The police add that they have discovered a disturbing pattern in how surrogates are sourced&period; The sealed medical facility in Secunderabad is surrounded by lodges and bed-and-breakfast rooms&period; These lodging facilities were used to house women&period; A police officer says&comma; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;The agents would approach vulnerable women&comma; particularly those seeking abortions&comma; and offer them money to continue their pregnancy so that they could take the baby later&period; These newborns would then be passed off as children conceived through surrogacy&period; This is how people were misled into believing that the babies were biologically theirs&period;” In at least four known cases in Telangana&comma; women were not paid at all and completely abandoned post-delivery&comma; the officer adds&period;&NewLine;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>On November 26&comma; 2024&comma; a woman engaged as a surrogate by a couple died after falling from the ninth floor of a building in Raidurgam in the western part of Hyderabad&period; According to the police&comma; the victim and her husband&comma; both natives of Odisha&comma; were given accommodation by Rajesh Babu and his wife at their residence&period; When Rajesh allegedly tried to sexually assault the 26-year-old woman&comma; she tried to escape through the balcony and slipped and died&period; She was purportedly brought to the city through middlemen for surrogacy for ₹10 lakh&comma; say police reports&period;&NewLine;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h4 class&equals;"sub&lowbar;head">Donors in queue<br &sol;>&NewLine;<&sol;h4>&NewLine;<p>As the police widened their probe&comma; they raided a facility operating under the name&comma; Indian Sperm Tech&comma; near Secunderabad East Metro Station&comma; located about 400 metres away from the fertility clinic&period; They found 17 sperm donors and 11 egg donors waiting in queue at the facility&period;&NewLine;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;The women donors were brought from Delhi&comma; and the men from Andhra Pradesh and other parts of Telangana&period; The sperm donors&comma; mostly aged between 22 and 30&comma; were paid ₹1&comma;000-₹1&comma;500 per sample&period; The men were in need of quick cash&comma;” says a police officer who led the raid&period;&NewLine;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>L&period; Shiva was among the people arrested by the police in the midnight raid&period; Shiva&comma; 35&comma; from Vizianagaram&comma; brought egg and sperm donors and connected them to the hospital&period; Another broker who was arrested hails from Indore in Madhya Pradesh&period; One of the egg donors caught in the raid was a 30-year-old resident from Baksa&comma; Assam&period;&NewLine;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Indian Sperm Tech&comma; reportedly headquartered in Ahmedabad&comma; had allegedly set up the sperm collection unit in Secunderabad without a valid license&period; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;It is a diagnostic centre&comma;” says an officer from the District Medical and Health Officer’s office&period; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;They collect sperm samples&comma; freeze them&comma; and send them to Ahmedabad&period; The processed samples &lpar;isolated and concentrated to select the healthiest sperm&rpar; are then returned with reports and sold to clinics across Telangana&comma; Andhra Pradesh&comma; and Chhattisgarh&period; The place has been operating for two years without registration&period;”&NewLine;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h4 class&equals;"sub&lowbar;head">In trouble before<br &sol;>&NewLine;<&sol;h4>&NewLine;<p>It is a typically busy weekday afternoon on St&period; Johns Road in Secunderabad&period; But just a short turn away from this arterial road&comma; the noise fades&period; A narrow bylane&comma; about 20 feet wide&comma; is almost hidden in plain sight&period; Two old gates&comma; one swung wide open and the other barely ajar&comma; lead into it&period; Two policemen sit here&comma; silent witnesses to what the North Zone police uncovered&period;&NewLine;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The building of Namratha’s clinic has been sealed and the clinic shut down&comma; following an investigation that exposed the baby-selling racket running under the guise of fertility treatments&period; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;The hospital operated only on the first two floors&period; The rest were empty&comma;” says one constable&period; The two floors were filled with equipment required for childcare and fertility treatment&period;&NewLine;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Rajesh Ravi lived here for 16 years before moving closer to the city centre&period; He is shocked by the revelations&period; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;You live somewhere for over a decade and you think you know your neighbourhood&period; I found nothing suspicious&period; The only time we were mildly inconvenienced was when too many patients came and there would be many cars on the street&comma;” he says&period;&NewLine;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Rajesh says there was a police case involving the same place about 10 years ago&period; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;No one talked about it much because back then&comma; news on social media did not reach us as fast as it does now&comma;” he says&period;&NewLine;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;We knew what was happening here&comma;” says Manu&comma; a lawyer who lives across the street of the four-storied Rushi Test Tube Bab Cent&period; While the name in English has missing letters&comma; the name in Telugu etched beneath it reveals the complete name — Srusthi Test Tube Baby Centre&period; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;This place was sealed five times earlier&period; But eventually things got back to &OpenCurlyQuote;normal’&period; This time I think it is serious and she &lpar;Namratha&rpar; will not be allowed to carry on the business&period;”<&sol;p>&NewLine;<div class&equals;"article-picture ">&NewLine;<div class&equals;"picture zoom-img "><img src&equals;"data&colon;image&sol;gif&semi;base64&comma;R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP&sol;&sol;&sol;ywAAAAAAQABAAACAUwAOw&equals;&equals;" fifu-lazy&equals;"1" fifu-data-sizes&equals;"auto" fifu-data-srcset&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;i3&period;wp&period;com&sol;th-i&period;thgim&period;com&sol;public&sol;incoming&sol;b08ouu&sol;article69883931&period;ece&sol;alternates&sol;FREE&lowbar;1200&sol;&lowbar;DSC0783&period;JPG&quest;ssl&equals;1&w&equals;75&resize&equals;75&ssl&equals;1 75w&comma; https&colon;&sol;&sol;i3&period;wp&period;com&sol;th-i&period;thgim&period;com&sol;public&sol;incoming&sol;b08ouu&sol;article69883931&period;ece&sol;alternates&sol;FREE&lowbar;1200&sol;&lowbar;DSC0783&period;JPG&quest;ssl&equals;1&w&equals;100&resize&equals;100&ssl&equals;1 100w&comma; https&colon;&sol;&sol;i3&period;wp&period;com&sol;th-i&period;thgim&period;com&sol;public&sol;incoming&sol;b08ouu&sol;article69883931&period;ece&sol;alternates&sol;FREE&lowbar;1200&sol;&lowbar;DSC0783&period;JPG&quest;ssl&equals;1&w&equals;150&resize&equals;150&ssl&equals;1 150w&comma; https&colon;&sol;&sol;i3&period;wp&period;com&sol;th-i&period;thgim&period;com&sol;public&sol;incoming&sol;b08ouu&sol;article69883931&period;ece&sol;alternates&sol;FREE&lowbar;1200&sol;&lowbar;DSC0783&period;JPG&quest;ssl&equals;1&w&equals;240&resize&equals;240&ssl&equals;1 240w&comma; https&colon;&sol;&sol;i3&period;wp&period;com&sol;th-i&period;thgim&period;com&sol;public&sol;incoming&sol;b08ouu&sol;article69883931&period;ece&sol;alternates&sol;FREE&lowbar;1200&sol;&lowbar;DSC0783&period;JPG&quest;ssl&equals;1&w&equals;320&resize&equals;320&ssl&equals;1 320w&comma; https&colon;&sol;&sol;i3&period;wp&period;com&sol;th-i&period;thgim&period;com&sol;public&sol;incoming&sol;b08ouu&sol;article69883931&period;ece&sol;alternates&sol;FREE&lowbar;1200&sol;&lowbar;DSC0783&period;JPG&quest;ssl&equals;1&w&equals;500&resize&equals;500&ssl&equals;1 500w&comma; https&colon;&sol;&sol;i3&period;wp&period;com&sol;th-i&period;thgim&period;com&sol;public&sol;incoming&sol;b08ouu&sol;article69883931&period;ece&sol;alternates&sol;FREE&lowbar;1200&sol;&lowbar;DSC0783&period;JPG&quest;ssl&equals;1&w&equals;640&resize&equals;640&ssl&equals;1 640w&comma; https&colon;&sol;&sol;i3&period;wp&period;com&sol;th-i&period;thgim&period;com&sol;public&sol;incoming&sol;b08ouu&sol;article69883931&period;ece&sol;alternates&sol;FREE&lowbar;1200&sol;&lowbar;DSC0783&period;JPG&quest;ssl&equals;1&w&equals;800&resize&equals;800&ssl&equals;1 800w&comma; https&colon;&sol;&sol;i3&period;wp&period;com&sol;th-i&period;thgim&period;com&sol;public&sol;incoming&sol;b08ouu&sol;article69883931&period;ece&sol;alternates&sol;FREE&lowbar;1200&sol;&lowbar;DSC0783&period;JPG&quest;ssl&equals;1&w&equals;1024&resize&equals;1024&ssl&equals;1 1024w&comma; https&colon;&sol;&sol;i3&period;wp&period;com&sol;th-i&period;thgim&period;com&sol;public&sol;incoming&sol;b08ouu&sol;article69883931&period;ece&sol;alternates&sol;FREE&lowbar;1200&sol;&lowbar;DSC0783&period;JPG&quest;ssl&equals;1&w&equals;1280&resize&equals;1280&ssl&equals;1 1280w&comma; https&colon;&sol;&sol;i3&period;wp&period;com&sol;th-i&period;thgim&period;com&sol;public&sol;incoming&sol;b08ouu&sol;article69883931&period;ece&sol;alternates&sol;FREE&lowbar;1200&sol;&lowbar;DSC0783&period;JPG&quest;ssl&equals;1&w&equals;1600&resize&equals;1600&ssl&equals;1 1600w" fifu-data-src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;i3&period;wp&period;com&sol;th-i&period;thgim&period;com&sol;public&sol;incoming&sol;b08ouu&sol;article69883931&period;ece&sol;alternates&sol;FREE&lowbar;1200&sol;&lowbar;DSC0783&period;JPG&quest;ssl&equals;1" data-original&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;i3&period;wp&period;com&sol;th-i&period;thgim&period;com&sol;public&sol;incoming&sol;b08ouu&sol;article69883931&period;ece&sol;alternates&sol;FREE&lowbar;1200&sol;&lowbar;DSC0783&period;JPG&quest;ssl&equals;1" alt&equals;"The main accused in the Srushti Fertility Centre case&comma; Pachipala Namratha aka Athaluri Namratha&comma; Athaluri Namratha&comma; being questioned in police custody at the North Zone DCP’s office in Secunderabad&period;" title&equals;"The main accused in the Srushti Fertility Centre case&comma; Pachipala Namratha aka Athaluri Namratha&comma; Athaluri Namratha&comma; being questioned in police custody at the North Zone DCP’s office in Secunderabad&period;" class&equals;" lazy" width&equals;"100&percnt;" height&equals;"100&percnt;"><&sol;div>&NewLine;<p class&equals;"caption">&NewLine;<p> The main accused in the Srushti Fertility Centre case&comma; Pachipala Namratha aka Athaluri Namratha&comma; Athaluri Namratha&comma; being questioned in police custody at the North Zone DCP’s office in Secunderabad&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine; &vert; Photo Credit&colon;<br &sol;>&NewLine; G&period; Ramakrishna&NewLine; <&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><span itemtype&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;schema&period;org&sol;ImageObject" itemscope&equals;"itemscope" itemprop&equals;"image"><&sol;span><meta itemprop&equals;"url" content&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;th-i&period;thgim&period;com&sol;public&sol;incoming&sol;b08ouu&sol;article69883931&period;ece&sol;alternates&sol;FREE&lowbar;1200&sol;&lowbar;DSC0783&period;JPG"><meta content&equals;"1200" itemprop&equals;"width"><meta content&equals;"675" itemprop&equals;"height"><&sol;div>&NewLine;<p>The Telangana Medical Council says Namratha was involved in a surrogacy scandal in 2016&period; A U&period;S&period;-based couple&comma; who had used the clinic’s services&comma; had discovered that the child born to them through a surrogate was not biologically related to them&period; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Following a police case and court hearings&comma; we suspended the doctor’s license for five years&comma; with a lifetime ban on conducting surrogacy procedures&comma;” says Dr&period; G Srinivas&comma; Vice-Chairman of the Council&period;&NewLine;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Yet&comma; when the suspension period ended&comma; the doctor returned&comma; seeking to have her license reinstated&period; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;We refused&period; She was still involved in a court case&comma; and our rules are clear on that&comma;” Dr&period; Srinivas adds&period;&NewLine;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h4 class&equals;"sub&lowbar;head">A stringent law<br &sol;>&NewLine;<&sol;h4>&NewLine;<p>As surrogacy has become an increasingly popular option for couples grappling with infertility&comma; Indian law has become more stringent to ensure that the practice remains ethical and free from commercial exploitation&period; What once operated in legal grey zones is now bound by clear rules&comma; thanks to the Surrogacy &lpar;Regulation&rpar; Act&comma; 2021&period;&NewLine;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Under the Act&comma; only altruistic surrogacy is permitted in India&period; This means a surrogate mother cannot be paid for carrying a child&comma; except for her medical expenses and insurance coverage&period; Commercial surrogacy&comma; any arrangement involving monetary compensation or profit&comma; is banned and is a punishable offence&period;&NewLine;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>According to the Act&comma; all surrogacy procedures must take place at clinics registered under the Act and authorised by the office officially designated as the State Appropriate Authority&period;&NewLine;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&period; These clinics must comply with strict medical standards and ethical norms&period; Any attempt to bypass the law&comma; whether through brokers&comma; unregistered clinics&comma; or financial inducements&comma; is considered a criminal offence&comma; punishable with imprisonment of up to 10 years and fines reaching ₹10 lakh&period;&NewLine;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Fertility specialists say the Assisted Reproductive Technology &lpar;ART&rpar; Regulation Act&comma; 2021&comma; and the Surrogacy &lpar;Regulation&rpar; Act&comma; 2021&comma; have brought much-needed order to what was once a loosely regulated and&comma; at times&comma; opaque system&period;&NewLine;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Dr&period; Preethi Dayal&comma; who runs the Preethi Fertility Centre in Jangaon district&comma; says prior to the enforcement of the ART law in January 2023&comma; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;many centres operated without oversight&period; You could bring in any random donor&comma; collect the sample&comma; and proceed with checks or documentation&period; But we are now bound by very strict protocols&period; Every donor must be sourced only through a registered ART bank&comma; which keeps Aadhaar-linked records of every sample&comma; though the identity is never disclosed to either doctors or patients&period;” She adds that the new law mandates comprehensive screening of all donors&comma; including genetic testing&comma; and imposes tight eligibility criteria based on age and health&period; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;There is no room for ambiguity now&period; Everything has to be documented and traceable&period;”<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Dr&period; Preethi also points out that&comma; legally and ethically&comma; all third-party donor procedures must be conducted with confidentiality&period; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Patients are never informed about the identity of the donor&period; The child born through surrogacy belongs legally and emotionally to the intended parents&period; That is the framework we follow&comma;” Dr&period; Preethi says&period;&NewLine;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>To reduce the risk of human error&comma; the doctor says many IVF clinics have now adopted the RI Witness system&comma; a high-tech safety protocol that tracks every sample using barcode verification&period; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Every patient is given a barcode-linked card&period; Before processing a sample&comma; we scan the card in the system&period; If there is any mismatch&comma; the entire hospital is alerted&comma;” she says&period;&NewLine;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>While many corporate hospitals have already adopted this system&comma; Dr&period; Preethi says smaller or less-regulated clinics may not yet have the infrastructure or the will to comply&period; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Some centres are still conducting 10 to 15 IVF cycles a day&period; Without safeguards like the RI Witness system&comma; the chances of mix-ups increase&comma;” she says&period;&NewLine;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><b><i>Additional reporting by Naveen Kumar<&sol;i><&sol;b><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><b><i>Names have been changed to protect privacy<&sol;i><&sol;b><&sol;p>&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;<div class&equals;"articleblock-container" id&equals;"arthardpv"><&sol;div>&NewLine;<div class&equals;"update-publish-time article-published-time-end"><&sol;div>&NewLine;<div class&equals;"comments-shares share-page flex print-hide" data-artid&equals;"69883313" data-title&equals;"Telangana’s surrogacy scam&colon; 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&lbrack;728&comma; 90&rsqb;&comma; 'Desktop&lowbar;AT&lowbar;Mid05'&rpar;&period;addService&lpar;googletag&period;pubads&lpar;&rpar;&rpar;&semi;&NewLine; &rpar;&semi;&NewLine; userIdentify&period;then&lpar;function&lpar;&rpar; if &lpar;isDeviceEnabled&lpar;"large"&rpar; && isNonSubcribedUser&lpar;&rpar; && totalPcount&period;length > 0 && Number&period;isInteger&lpar;15&rpar; && totalPcount&period;length >&equals; &lpar;14 &plus; 3&rpar;&rpar; googletag&period;cmd&period;push&lpar;function&lpar;&rpar; googletag&period;display&lpar;'Desktop&lowbar;AT&lowbar;Mid05'&rpar;&semi;&rpar;&semi;&NewLine; &rpar;&semi;<&sol;script><&excl;-- End DFP &colon; &sol;22390678&sol;TH&lowbar;Desktop&lowbar;AT&lowbar;Mid05&comma; publisher&colon; The Hindu --><&sol;div>&NewLine;<div class&equals;"d-block d-sm-none "><script data-cfasync&equals;"false">&NewLine; totalPcount &equals; totalPcount &vert;&vert; &lbrack;&rsqb;&semi;if &lpar;isDeviceEnabled&lpar;"small"&rpar;&rpar; var container &equals; document&period;createElement&lpar;"div"&rpar;&semi;&NewLine; container&period;className &equals; "article-ad"&semi;container&period;appendChild&lpar;createElementScript&lpar;"div"&comma; "dfp-ad articleinlinead"&comma; "MWeb&lowbar;AT&lowbar;Middle01"&comma; minHeight&colon; '280px'&rpar;&rpar;&semi;&NewLine; insertElementEnd&lpar;totalPcount&lbrack;1 - 1&rsqb;&comma; container&rpar;&NewLine; <&sol;script><&excl;-- Begin DFP &colon; &sol;22390678&sol;TH&lowbar;MWeb&lowbar;AT&lowbar;Middle01&comma; publisher&colon; The Hindu --><script type&equals;"856df165c2e88e3192003c95-text&sol;javascript">userIdentify&period;then&lpar;function&lpar;&rpar; if&lpar;isDeviceEnabled&lpar;"small"&rpar; && isNonSubcribedUser&lpar;&rpar;&rpar; googletag&period;cmd&period;push&lpar;function&lpar;&rpar; googletag&period;display&lpar;'MWeb&lowbar;AT&lowbar;Middle01'&rpar;&semi;&rpar;&semi;&NewLine; &rpar;&semi;<&sol;script><&excl;-- End DFP &colon; &sol;22390678&sol;TH&lowbar;MWeb&lowbar;AT&lowbar;Middle01&comma; publisher&colon; The Hindu --><script data-cfasync&equals;"false">&NewLine; totalPcount &equals; totalPcount &vert;&vert; &lbrack;&rsqb;&semi;if &lpar;isDeviceEnabled&lpar;"small"&rpar;&rpar; var container &equals; document&period;createElement&lpar;"div"&rpar;&semi;&NewLine; container&period;className &equals; "article-ad"&semi;container&period;appendChild&lpar;createElementScript&lpar;"div"&comma; "dfp-ad articleinlinead"&comma; "Mweb&lowbar;Inarticle&lowbar;1x1"&comma; minHeight&colon; '250px'&rpar;&rpar;&semi;&NewLine; insertElementEnd&lpar;totalPcount&lbrack;3 - 1&rsqb;&comma; container&rpar;&NewLine; <&sol;script><&excl;-- Begin DFP &colon; &sol;22390678&sol;TH&lowbar;Mweb&lowbar;Inarticle&lowbar;1x1&comma; publisher&colon; The Hindu --><script type&equals;"856df165c2e88e3192003c95-text&sol;javascript">userIdentify&period;then&lpar;function&lpar;&rpar; if&lpar;isDeviceEnabled&lpar;"small"&rpar; && isNonSubcribedUser&lpar;&rpar;&rpar; googletag&period;cmd&period;push&lpar;function&lpar;&rpar; googletag&period;display&lpar;'Mweb&lowbar;Inarticle&lowbar;1x1'&rpar;&semi;&rpar;&semi;&NewLine; 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&& totalPcount&period;length >&equals; &lpar;5 &plus; 3&rpar;&rpar; if &lpar;isDeviceEnabled&lpar;"small"&rpar;&rpar; &NewLine; googletag&period;cmd&period;push&lpar;function&lpar;&rpar; googletag&period;defineSlot&lpar;'&sol;22390678&sol;TH&lowbar;MWeb&lowbar;AT&lowbar;Middle02'&comma; &lbrack;&lbrack;300&comma; 250&rsqb;&comma; &lbrack;336&comma; 280&rsqb;&rsqb;&comma; 'MWeb&lowbar;AT&lowbar;Middle02'&rpar;&period;addService&lpar;googletag&period;pubads&lpar;&rpar;&rpar;&semi;&NewLine; &rpar;&semi;&NewLine; userIdentify&period;then&lpar;function&lpar;&rpar; if &lpar;isDeviceEnabled&lpar;"small"&rpar; && isNonSubcribedUser&lpar;&rpar; && totalPcount&period;length > 0 && Number&period;isInteger&lpar;6&rpar; && totalPcount&period;length >&equals; &lpar;5 &plus; 3&rpar;&rpar; googletag&period;cmd&period;push&lpar;function&lpar;&rpar; googletag&period;display&lpar;'MWeb&lowbar;AT&lowbar;Middle02'&rpar;&semi;&rpar;&semi;&NewLine; &rpar;&semi;<&sol;script><&excl;-- End DFP &colon; &sol;22390678&sol;TH&lowbar;MWeb&lowbar;AT&lowbar;Middle02&comma; 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&& totalPcount&period;length >&equals; &lpar;8 &plus; 3&rpar;&rpar; if &lpar;isDeviceEnabled&lpar;"small"&rpar;&rpar; &NewLine; googletag&period;cmd&period;push&lpar;function&lpar;&rpar; googletag&period;defineSlot&lpar;'&sol;22390678&sol;TH&lowbar;MWeb&lowbar;AT&lowbar;Middle03'&comma; &lbrack;&lbrack;300&comma; 250&rsqb;&comma; &lbrack;336&comma; 280&rsqb;&rsqb;&comma; 'MWeb&lowbar;AT&lowbar;Middle03'&rpar;&period;addService&lpar;googletag&period;pubads&lpar;&rpar;&rpar;&semi;&NewLine; &rpar;&semi;&NewLine; userIdentify&period;then&lpar;function&lpar;&rpar; if &lpar;isDeviceEnabled&lpar;"small"&rpar; && isNonSubcribedUser&lpar;&rpar; && totalPcount&period;length > 0 && Number&period;isInteger&lpar;9&rpar; && totalPcount&period;length >&equals; &lpar;8 &plus; 3&rpar;&rpar; googletag&period;cmd&period;push&lpar;function&lpar;&rpar; googletag&period;display&lpar;'MWeb&lowbar;AT&lowbar;Middle03'&rpar;&semi;&rpar;&semi;&NewLine; &rpar;&semi;<&sol;script><&excl;-- End DFP &colon; &sol;22390678&sol;TH&lowbar;MWeb&lowbar;AT&lowbar;Middle03&comma; publisher&colon; The Hindu --><script data-cfasync&equals;"false">&NewLine; totalPcount &equals; totalPcount &vert;&vert; &lbrack;&rsqb;&semi;if &lpar;totalPcount&period;length > 0 && isDeviceEnabled&lpar;"small"&rpar; && Number&period;isInteger&lpar;12&rpar; && totalPcount&period;length >&equals; &lpar;11 &plus; 3&rpar;&rpar; var container &equals; document&period;createElement&lpar;"div"&rpar;&semi;&NewLine; container&period;className &equals; "article-ad"&semi;container&period;appendChild&lpar;createElementScript&lpar;"div"&comma; "dfp-ad articleinlinead"&comma; "MWeb&lowbar;AT&lowbar;Middle04"&comma; minHeight&colon; '280px'&rpar;&rpar;&semi;&NewLine; insertElementEnd&lpar;totalPcount&lbrack;12 - 1&rsqb;&comma; container&rpar;&NewLine; <&sol;script><&excl;-- Begin DFP &colon; &sol;22390678&sol;TH&lowbar;MWeb&lowbar;AT&lowbar;Middle04&comma; publisher&colon; The Hindu --><script type&equals;"856df165c2e88e3192003c95-text&sol;javascript">if &lpar;totalPcount&period;length > 0 && Number&period;isInteger&lpar;12&rpar; && totalPcount&period;length >&equals; &lpar;11 &plus; 3&rpar;&rpar; if &lpar;isDeviceEnabled&lpar;"small"&rpar;&rpar; &NewLine; googletag&period;cmd&period;push&lpar;function&lpar;&rpar; googletag&period;defineSlot&lpar;'&sol;22390678&sol;TH&lowbar;MWeb&lowbar;AT&lowbar;Middle04'&comma; &lbrack;&lbrack;300&comma; 250&rsqb;&comma; &lbrack;336&comma; 280&rsqb;&rsqb;&comma; 'MWeb&lowbar;AT&lowbar;Middle04'&rpar;&period;addService&lpar;googletag&period;pubads&lpar;&rpar;&rpar;&semi;&NewLine; &rpar;&semi;&NewLine; userIdentify&period;then&lpar;function&lpar;&rpar; if &lpar;isDeviceEnabled&lpar;"small"&rpar; && isNonSubcribedUser&lpar;&rpar; && totalPcount&period;length > 0 && Number&period;isInteger&lpar;12&rpar; && totalPcount&period;length >&equals; &lpar;11 &plus; 3&rpar;&rpar; googletag&period;cmd&period;push&lpar;function&lpar;&rpar; googletag&period;display&lpar;'MWeb&lowbar;AT&lowbar;Middle04'&rpar;&semi;&rpar;&semi;&NewLine; &rpar;&semi;<&sol;script><&excl;-- End DFP &colon; &sol;22390678&sol;TH&lowbar;MWeb&lowbar;AT&lowbar;Middle04&comma; publisher&colon; The Hindu --><script data-cfasync&equals;"false">&NewLine; totalPcount &equals; totalPcount &vert;&vert; &lbrack;&rsqb;&semi;if &lpar;totalPcount&period;length > 0 && isDeviceEnabled&lpar;"small"&rpar; && Number&period;isInteger&lpar;15&rpar; && totalPcount&period;length >&equals; &lpar;14 &plus; 3&rpar;&rpar; var container &equals; document&period;createElement&lpar;"div"&rpar;&semi;&NewLine; container&period;className &equals; "article-ad"&semi;container&period;appendChild&lpar;createElementScript&lpar;"div"&comma; "dfp-ad articleinlinead"&comma; "MWeb&lowbar;AT&lowbar;Middle05"&comma; minHeight&colon; '280px'&rpar;&rpar;&semi;&NewLine; insertElementEnd&lpar;totalPcount&lbrack;15 - 1&rsqb;&comma; container&rpar;&NewLine; <&sol;script><&excl;-- Begin DFP &colon; &sol;22390678&sol;TH&lowbar;MWeb&lowbar;AT&lowbar;Middle05&comma; publisher&colon; The Hindu --><script type&equals;"856df165c2e88e3192003c95-text&sol;javascript">if &lpar;totalPcount&period;length > 0 && Number&period;isInteger&lpar;15&rpar; && totalPcount&period;length >&equals; &lpar;14 &plus; 3&rpar;&rpar; if &lpar;isDeviceEnabled&lpar;"small"&rpar;&rpar; &NewLine; googletag&period;cmd&period;push&lpar;function&lpar;&rpar; googletag&period;defineSlot&lpar;'&sol;22390678&sol;TH&lowbar;MWeb&lowbar;AT&lowbar;Middle05'&comma; &lbrack;&lbrack;300&comma; 250&rsqb;&comma; &lbrack;336&comma; 280&rsqb;&rsqb;&comma; 'MWeb&lowbar;AT&lowbar;Middle05'&rpar;&period;addService&lpar;googletag&period;pubads&lpar;&rpar;&rpar;&semi;&NewLine; &rpar;&semi;&NewLine; userIdentify&period;then&lpar;function&lpar;&rpar; if &lpar;isDeviceEnabled&lpar;"small"&rpar; && isNonSubcribedUser&lpar;&rpar; && totalPcount&period;length > 0 && Number&period;isInteger&lpar;15&rpar; && totalPcount&period;length >&equals; &lpar;14 &plus; 3&rpar;&rpar; googletag&period;cmd&period;push&lpar;function&lpar;&rpar; googletag&period;display&lpar;'MWeb&lowbar;AT&lowbar;Middle05'&rpar;&semi;&rpar;&semi;&NewLine; &rpar;&semi;<&sol;script><&excl;-- End DFP &colon; &sol;22390678&sol;TH&lowbar;MWeb&lowbar;AT&lowbar;Middle05&comma; publisher&colon; The Hindu --><&sol;div>&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;<p><script async src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;platform&period;twitter&period;com&sol;widgets&period;js" charset&equals;"utf-8"><&sol;script><&sol;p>&NewLine;

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