Srishti Test Tube Baby Centre Is Illegal: Police

DCP (Hyderabad North Zone) Rashmi Perumal today said that the city-based Srishti Test Tube Baby Centre had been operating without proper legal permissions, and that its registration had been cancelled in 2021.

Speaking about the sensational case of a childless couple being cheated by the centre's manager Dr Athaluri Namratha, the DCP revealed several irregularities in the functioning of the centre.

"A Rajasthani couple who were unable to conceive approached the Srishti Test Tube Baby Centre. Dr Namratha conducted several tests and informed them that IVF was not possible in their case, but that surrogacy was an option. She quoted a price of Rs 30 lakh for the procedure. She also claimed that she had arranged a couple from Visakhapatnam for surrogacy, and that they were demanding an additional Rs 5 lakh. She assured the couple that eggs and sperm were collected and that the surrogacy process had begun. A pregnant woman from Visakhapatnam was shown as the surrogate mother. A few months later, a baby boy was handed over to the couple at a hospital in Visakhapatnam by Namratha, who also demanded additional money. The couple complied and paid the extra amount. However, the truth was that there had been no surrogacy. A woman from Assam, who had delivered a baby and did not want to keep it, was paid Rs 90,000, and the baby was taken from her immediately after birth. The couple grew suspicious and conducted a DNA test, which revealed that the baby was not biologically related to them," the DCP said.

Perumal also said that there were many complaints against the centre, and that none of the doctors or staff were qualified experts in the field. The hospital's registration had been cancelled in 2021, and they had told a court that the hospital was being shut down, but in reality it was still being run secretly, she added.

She also alleged that Dr Namratha's son Jayant Krishna threatened the victims by posing as a lawyer involved in human trafficking. "We have registered a case in this matter and arrested eight accused," the DCP concluded.

TOI reports that Dr Namratha had been to prison in the past too over similar cases, and had had her license to practice medicine cancelled for five years over a similar issue.