As soon as the parents were tested for DNA at the forensic centre, no genetic link was found between the baby and the parents. This is how the case of a fake surrogacy racket came to light in Hyderabad.
In a shocking case, a fake surrogacy bait was running involving a fertility clinic in Secunderabad. The police probe revealed that the baby was allegedly brought from a poor family and handed over to the couple who sought IVF treatment in 2024.
The clinic has outlined a plan very precisely. According to the plan, they suggested that the couple opt for surrogacy and assured that the baby would be biologically theirs. For the whole process, they charged Rs 35 lakh to the couple.
On Sunday, July 27, Hyderabad police arrested eight people, including prime accused Dr Athaluri Namratha (64) of Universal Srushti Fertility Centre, Dr Nargula Sadanandam (41), an anesthetist from the state-run Gandhi Hospital, and agents and technicians.
All the accused were booked on charges of cheating clients in the name of surrogacy procedure and running a baby-selling racket. Further, it was also revealed that the licence had been cancelled in 2021, but Dr Narmatha was running it illegally. It was revealed that she had three more centres in Kondapur (Hyderabad), Vijayawada, and Visakhapatnam. All of them were raided on Sunday.
In a shocking revelation, it was found that Dr Namratha came under scrutiny twice, in 2016 and 2020. In the first case, her license was suspended for five years by the Telangana Medical Council after an NRI couple from the US alleged that the newborn given to them, allegedly through surrogacy, was not biologically related to them. Then, in 2020, Vizag police arrested Dr Namratha and five others for allegedly trafficking newborns. Police claimed that more than 10 cases were previously registered against the accused doctor and her clinic at three places, Visakhapatnam, Hyderabad, and Guntur.
How did this incident come to light?
On July 26, the city-based couple approached the Gopalapuram police alleging that the baby given to them by the clinic known as Srushti Test Tube Baby Centre has no biological connection with the father. They had followed the complete commercial surrogacy procedure and had paid an amount of Rs 35 Lakh. The police clearly stated that after the interrogation, it was clear that no surrogacy treatment was running. Dr. Namratha and her employees were selling infants to childless couples bought from poor pregnant women who were lured with money.
The biological parents of the baby have been arrested, who belong to Hyderabad. They were given Rs 90,000, and the mother was sent to Vishakhapatnam for delivery.
The baby boy was just two days old when he was sold to the complainant couple under the terms that they would be his biological parents.
Those who were arrested are Dr Namratha’s son, P Jayanth Krishna (25), a practising advocate who used to manage his mother’s funds, two employees of the clinic C Kalyani Atchayyamma (40) and G Chenna Rao (37), and an agent, Dhanasri Santoshi (38). The biological parents of the infant have been identified as Mohammed Ali Adik (38) and Nasreen Begum (25).
Timeline of the event
Seven of the accused have been sent to Chanchalguda jail under 14-day judicial remand, while C Kalyani, a staff member from the Visakhapatnam branch, is being brought to Hyderabad.
According to the DCP, besides involvement in an illegal trade, the accused were also engaged in commercial surrogacy, which is prohibited in India. Only altruistic surrogacy is legally permitted.
Senior police officials stated that the complainants, a couple from Rajasthan, first approached the fertility centre in August 2024 for IVF consultation. During the visit, Dr Namratha conducted fertility tests and recommended surrogacy. The couple was then referred to the clinic’s Visakhapatnam branch for further procedures. They were promised that a surrogate mother would be arranged and their embryo would be implanted.
Over the next nine months, the couple made several payments covering consultation fees, medical treatment, and surrogate care. The clinic regularly assured them that the pregnancy was progressing well.
In June 2025, the couple was informed that a baby boy had been delivered via C-section in Visakhapatnam. Before receiving the child, they were asked to pay an additional Rs 2 lakh as a delivery fee. The clinic claimed that the biological father of the baby was demanding more money. Upon arrival in Vizag, the baby was handed over with documents, including a fake birth certificate, falsely showing the couple as the biological parents.
When the couple requested the DNA report, they discovered that no test had been conducted before registering the baby in their name. Despite this, clinic representatives continued to assure them that the baby was theirs.
Doubts led the couple to undergo a DNA test for all three individuals at a forensic lab in Vasant Kunj, Delhi, which revealed no biological relation between them and the child. When they sought answers from the clinic, Dr Namratha first blocked their contact and later threatened them, refusing to provide any documents.
Frustrated, the couple approached Gopalapuram police a week ago and filed a complaint. “Dr Namratha, with clear intent to deceive, did not allow the couple to meet the surrogate mother, whom they believed to be the biological parent,” said the DCP.
Following the complaint, police along with health department officials raided and sealed the Gopalapuram fertility centre. Authorities found unlicensed medical equipment, live embryos, and evidence of unauthorized IVF and medical procedures, confirming the clinic’s illegal activities.
The police alleged that they might get more information by questioning the accused in police custody, as they need to dig deeper into the case and find out how the accused arranged women for surrogacy treatment.
The State Human Rights Commission has taken suo motu cognizance of reports published in the media on alleged illegal and unethical surrogacy practices at Universal Srushti Fertility Centre in Secunderabad and its associated clinics in Hyderabad, Vijayawada, and Visakhapatnam.
