Poor Women Lured Into Surrogacy With Money

Hyderabad:The bust of an illegal adoption racket at the Universal Srushti Fertility Centre has exposed a disturbing network exploiting vulnerable women under the pretext of surrogacy. Women from poor and marginalised backgrounds, according to officials, are coerced or lured into selling their newborns for financial compensation.

Though the case appeared like a fraud surrogacy case at the outset, it turned out to be an illegal adoption racket. As such, the Gopalapuram police invoked the Juvenile Justice (JJ) Act due to the illegal sale of infants. According to officials, poor regulatory oversight, lack of grassroots awareness, and systemic poverty are the key enablers of such illicit activities.

“Women are being exploited and they don’t know their rights… In many areas like Medchal, where large migrant populations work in industries and brick kilns, family planning is rarely prioritised,” said a child welfare committee (CWC) member. “There’s no culture of sterilisation. Women conceive repeatedly. When another child becomes unaffordable, they are lured by brokers who promise money and take the baby after birth. It’s a silent but thriving trade.”

The problem of unplanned pregnancy extends beyond married women in poor families. Unmarried girls, too, are falling prey. In a recent incident in Ramanthapur, a newborn with internal injuries was found abandoned near a garbage dump.

The infant was admitted to Niloufer Hospital and remains under observation. “Many young women are from small towns... They become pregnant due to ignorance or coercion. With no support system, they abandon the child in sheer desperation,” the official said.

ASHA workers have observed similar patterns. An ASHA worker noted that young women from other districts often move into hostels for education and, upon becoming pregnant, they quietly deliver in private hospitals to avoid creating official records. “They vanish after delivery. We have no records, no consultations, and no way to track them,” she said.

Another worker from Musheerabad said that most women, especially from the poor economic background from northern states or villages in Telangana or Andhra Pradesh, arrive in the city solely for the purpose of delivery. “They give us fake names and addresses. Once they deliver, they disappear. Where the child ends up — adoption, trafficking, or abandonment — no one has any clue,” she said.

“There are numerous clinics operating without valid registration, licences, or supervision,” said a senior official. “Who is monitoring them? The DMHO should ensure regulatory compliance, while the Telangana Medical Council must hold errant doctors accountable. Their inaction is emboldening such rackets. In the end, it is the infants who suffer — left in shelters like Sishuvihar, burdened by legal cases and deprived of parental care.”

The baby born to a couple involved in the case has been handed over to Sishuvihar in Hyderabad. Officials declined to comment on the child’s health. The infant will be made available for adoption after being certified as Legally Fit for Adoption (LFA) and registered with the Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA).