Telangana forms Committee to Probe IVF Clinics After Baby-Selling Racket
Government Orders Probe Into IVF Centres After Surrogacy Abuse Allegations
Hyderabad: Following the recent bust of a baby-selling racket, the Telangana government has constituted a committee to investigate violations of statutory provisions and ethical norms at private in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) clinics and fertility centres across the State.
This move comes after the exposure of a baby-selling racket at the Universal Srushti Fertility Centre in Secunderabad by Hyderabad City Police. In a Government Order (GO) issued on August 2, Health Secretary Christina Z. Chongthu highlighted that numerous clinics have been flouting provisions under the Assisted Reproductive Technology (Regulation) Act, 2021, and the Surrogacy (Regulation) Act, 2021. These violations reportedly include failure to register as mandated, lack of transparency in critical procedures such as gamete donation and embryo transfer, and surrogacy arrangements.
Medical Dialogues had previously reported that a major twist has come to light in the surrogacy fraud and baby-selling racket involving Universal Srushti Fertility Centre, as investigators revealed that the main accused, Dr Namratha, allegedly used the medical registration and license of a 94-year-old doctor, Dr Surya Sri, to run the clinic after the clinic's registration was cancelled in a previous similar case.
The committee is expected to submit a detailed report containing its findings and recommendations within 10 days. It holds the authority to summon officials, experts, and stakeholders to provide relevant information or evidence during the inquiry.
The committee, established under the supervision of the Commissioner of Health and Family Welfare, will include the Commissioner herself, the Chief Executive Officer of the Rajiv Aarogyasri Health Care Trust (RAHCT), and the Director of Medical Education (DME). According to the GO, the committee’s mandate is to carry out thorough inspections of all private IVF clinics and fertility centres in Telangana to ensure strict compliance with legal, clinical, and ethical standards in reproductive medical services.
As per the recent media report by The Hindu, the order directs the committee to scrutinise whether clinics are violating provisions of the ART and Surrogacy Acts by examining their functioning, patient consent processes, sourcing of gametes, and maintenance of procedural documentation. The committee is also tasked with analysing prior complaints, first information reports (FIRs), and departmental actions against erring clinics to assess the scale of the violations and the number of affected individuals, including oocyte and sperm donors, surrogates, and commissioning couples.
The committee will also investigate whether public officials, regulatory bodies such as the Medical Council, or other entities failed to act or may have enabled these violations through inaction or complicity. Furthermore, it has been directed to evaluate the adequacy of existing laws and regulatory frameworks governing assisted reproduction and surrogacy in Telangana and recommend measures to prevent such incidents from recurring.
