Latest news with #PachipalaNamratha
New Indian Express
03-08-2025
- Health
- New Indian Express
Committee set up to monitor fertility centres
HYDERABAD: In response to the recent surrogacy racket involving multiple arrests, the Health department on Saturday constituted a committee to inspect all private IVF clinics and fertility centres in the state. The committee, functioning under the supervision of the Health Commissioner, will assess whether these establishments comply with legal, clinical and ethical standards in reproductive medical services. The racket came to light after the arrest of several individuals, including the founder-director of Universal Srushti Fertility Centre, Athaluri Namratha alias Pachipala Namratha, her son Pachipala Jayanth Krishna, centre manager C Kalyani Atchayyamma, Gandhi Hospital anaesthetist Dr Nargula Sadanandam, lab technician Gollamandala Chenna Rao, and agent Dhanasri Santoshi. They have been accused of purchasing babies from vulnerable women and presenting them as children born through surrogacy. In an order issued by Health Secretary Christina Z Chongthu, the department noted that certain IVF clinics were operating in violation of the Assisted Reproductive Technology (Regulation) Act, 2011, and the Surrogacy (Regulation) Act, 2021. Concerns were raised over the lack of mandatory registration, procedural transparency, and breaches of ethical guidelines, particularly regarding gamete donation, embryo transfers and surrogacy arrangements. According to the order, the three-member committee will include the Health Commissioner, the CEO of the Rajiv Aarogyasri Health Care Trust, and the Director of Medical Education. The committee is expected to submit its report to the government within 10 days. It has been authorised to summon any official or expert to provide information relevant to the inquiry.
New Indian Express
28-07-2025
- New Indian Express
Eight arrested after DNA test exposes surrogacy scam in Hyderabad fertility clinic
HYDERABAD: Promising hope to childless couples, a fertility clinic instead orchestrated a cruel deception: buying babies from vulnerable women and passing them off as biological children born through surrogacy. The racket, run by Universal Srushti Fertility Centre, unravelled when a couple who paid Rs 35 lakh discovered through a DNA test that the two-day-old baby they were given wasn't biologically theirs. Eight people have been arrested, exposing a multi-city baby-selling operation. The Gopalapuram police, with support from the revenue and health authorities, busted the illegal surrogacy and trafficking ring, which operated under the guise of IVF services. Among those arrested are the clinic's founder, Dr Athaluri Namratha alias Pachipala Namratha (64), her son Pachipala Jayanth Krishna (25), clinic manager C Kalyani Atchayyamma (40), Gandhi Hospital anaesthetist Dr Nargula Sadanandam (41), lab technician Gollamandala Chenna Rao (37), agent Dhanasri Santoshi (38) and the baby's original parents — Mohammed Ali Adik (38) and Nasreen Begum (25). The rescued month-old baby has been placed in state care at Shishu Vihar. According to DCP (North Zone) S Rashmi Perumal, the complainant couple from Rajasthan approached the Gopalapuram branch, Hyderabad, in August 2024. After an initial consultation, they were referred to the Visakhapatnam branch for further procedures. Over nine months, they paid more than Rs 35 lakh, believing a surrogate had been arranged. In June 2025, the clinic informed them that a baby boy had been delivered via C-section. The child was handed over with a forged birth certificate listing the couple as biological parents. Dr Sadanandam from Gandhi Hospital administered anaesthesia to women during deliveries in various cities as part of the illegal operation, the DCP said. According to cops, the complainant couple grew suspicious that they had been handed someone else's baby after noticing striking differences in the infant's facial features. When the couple requested DNA verification of the surrogate, Dr Namratha allegedly stalled the process.
