Representational photo
Hyderabad: An illegal surrogacy and sperm racket was uncovered in Regimental Bazaar, Secunderabad, on Saturday, July 26, following which the manager and two lab technicians of Shrishti Fertility Centre were arrested by the police.
The case came to light after a Rajasthani couple residing in Secunderabad filed a complaint at the Gopalapuram police station stating that the baby they had received through surrogacy from Shrishti Fertility Centre was not biologically related to them.
The couple had reportedly paid Rs 35 lakh to the fertility centre for the procedure, and they were assured by Dr Namrata, the manager of Shrishti Fertility centre, that their gametes would be used for the surrogacy.
The baby was eventually born in June this year; however, no DNA test had been conducted, prompting the couple to get it done independently in Delhi. To their surprise, they found that the baby was not biologically related to either of them.
When they approached Dr Namrata, she reportedly admitted to a mistake but later became unreachable. This prompted the couple to take the matter to the police.
Following the complaint, police conducted late-night raids at the fertility centre and seized documents and sperm samples. Staff were questioned till 2:00 am, and the investigation revealed that the fertility centre had been illegally collecting and transporting sperm and eggs to Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh in collaboration with a firm named Indian Sperm Tech.
Police also found out that Indian Sperm Tech had been operating without official clearance. The firm’s regional manager, Pankaj Soni, and six more individuals, identified as Sampath, Srinu, Jitender, Shiva, Manikantha, and Boro, have also been arrested in relation to the case.
According to the police, Dr Namrata had been practising unethical and illegal methods for running the ‘surrogacy’ racket, where she would target vulnerable women looking for abortion and urge them to continue with the pregnancy in exchange for money.
She would then collect Rs 20-30 lakh from clients with false promises and pass off the babies as conceived through surrogacy.
This post was last modified on July 27, 2025 6:14 pm