25 arrested in India for child trafficking and illegal surrogacy

A surrogacy scandal has been discovered in India, and it has had widespread repercussions for the fertility industry there.

Key Takeaways:

• Police raided a network of fertility clinics where vulnerable women were recruited to serve as egg donors and surrogate mothers.

• Most of the women recruited were of low-income, and the people who ran the scheme charged exorbitant sums of money from infertile couples — most of which they kept.

• Doctors have said many women are being treated for Ovarian Hyperstimulation Syndrome (OHSS) and internal bleeding.

• As authorities investigated, they discovered that numerous fertility clinics were negligent, had been falsifying records, and operated without qualified personnel.

The Details:

A total of 25 people have been arrested, including Dr. Athaluri Namratha and her son, Jayanth Krishna. Namratha is the owner of Srushti Fertility Centers, which has multiple locations; accusations include child trafficking and illegal surrogacy.

Parents have alleged that they were given babies whose DNA did not match their own, were charged money for surrogacy contracts with no surrogates in place, and other fraudulent activities.

There are also allegations of exploitation, with one former surrogate — Narreddula Laxmi Reddy — allegedly helping to lure women into the egg donation and surrogacy racket. Reddy persuaded desperate, low-income women to either donate their eggs or become surrogates; once they agreed, she kept them in her home.

Doctors allege the women did not receive proper medical care, despite the procedures to which they were subjected.

Dr. Aakriti Verma, a senior gynecologist at a hospital in Hyderabad, said:

"We’ve treated many young women with Ovarian Hyperstimulation Syndrome and internal bleeding because they were repeatedly made to donate eggs without proper medical checks. What’s worse is many of them never understood the full health risks, they were told it’s just a simple injection."

Retired gynecologist Anjali Sood likewise warned that these women, being forced into underground surrogacy networks, are at serious risk.

"Hormonal damage occurs from unregulated egg harvesting," she said. "This is becoming a serious problem, and so is the risk of permanent infertility due to repeated procedures that these women are made to endure. Then there is the physical trauma from unsafe pregnancies and psychological effects like PTSD, anxiety, and depression that they have to face on a daily basis."

Once the government began investigating, they discovered widespread issues with fertility clinics across the country. Almost half of over 7,000 hospitals were found to be negligent or operating with regulatory violations. This includes filing fraudulent reports, having no doctors or nurses on staff, and other safety issues.

Zoom Out:

Surrogacy is inherently unethical and exploitative, turning women's bodies into products to be purchased by often wealthier would-be parents. This is not limited to just India; there are widespread abuses in the fertility industry around the globe.

Recently, a senior United Nations official called for an end to surrogacy. Surrogate mothers frequently live in poverty, choosing to become surrogates for wealthy foreigners in a desperate effort to care for their families. And meanwhile, surrogate mothers are at a higher risk of numerous complications, including gestational diabetes, hypertension related to pregnancy, and post-birth bleeding complications.

It is not just the mothers who are at risk. IVF itself is associated with higher risks for children, including low birth weight and prematurity. Furthermore, separating babies from their birth mothers, biologically related or not, is known to cause trauma, possibly even permanently altering adult brain function.

The Bottom Line:

The fertility industry exists with far too little regulation in oversight around the globe, as children are increasingly seen not as a privilege or as individual human beings, but as items to which adults are entitled whenever they want one.

This leads to widespread exploitation and abuse, as is currently being seen in India.