Police Focus On 3 Centres In Surrogacy Case
Days after serving notices to nine hospitals linked to an illegal surrogacy and egg donation racket, Petbasheerabad police have narrowed down their probe to three of them.
HYDERABAD: Days after serving notices to nine hospitals linked to an illegal surrogacy and egg donation racket, Petbasheerabad police have narrowed down their probe to three of them.
The hospitals under focus are Hegde Hospital, Sree Fertility and Ferticare IVF Assist. While all three are licensed to conduct In Vitro Fertilization (IVF), officials said their authorisation to carry out surrogacy procedures remains doubtful. “We are still verifying their documents and will book FIRs or decide our next course of action after that,” inspector Vijayavardhan said.
The racket was busted recently at the residence of Laxmi Reddy and her son, Narender Reddy. Eight people were arrested, including six women engaged as surrogate mothers. Police said at least two of them are currently pregnant, and all have been shifted to a state-run shelter home. Case sheets of some of the women, linked to Hegde Hospital, were recovered from the accused’s residence during the raid.
Investigators found that each woman was made to undergo surrogacy procedures four to five times, though medical guidelines allow only one surrogacy in a lifetime. The practice, police said, posed serious risks to the women’s health. The district health department has been directed to monitor their condition.