The scheme preyed on two marginal groups: desperate couples yearning for children, and impoverished women facing impossible choices.
Published Sep 27, 2025 | 5:34 PM ⚊ Updated Sep 27, 2025 | 5:34 PM
Dr Athaluri Namratha ran Universal Srushti Fertility Centre without a registration since 2016.
Synopsis: A Hyderabad couple’s joy turned to despair when DNA tests revealed their surrogate child wasn’t theirs, exposing a decade-long fertility fraud at Srushti Fertility Centre. Dr Pachipalli Namratha’s scheme exploited desperate couples and vulnerable women, trafficking babies for profit. ED raids uncovered forged documents, a multi-state network, and millions in losses, leading to 25 arrests.
It was supposed to be the happiest moment of their lives. After years of struggle with infertility, a foreign passport holder couple finally held their newborn kid, born through what they believed was a legitimate surrogacy arrangement at Hyderabad’s Universal Srushti Fertility Centre.
They had paid Rs 30 lakh and followed every protocol, trusting Dr Pachipalli Namratha’s assurances that their own genetic material would create their biological child.
But when they applied for their baby’s foreign passport, the routine DNA verification shattered their world. The child they had been raising for months wasn’t theirs.
This devastating discovery became the key that unlocked one of India’s most elaborate fertility fraud schemes, prompting the Enforcement Directorate to conduct raids across nine locations in Hyderabad, Vijayawada, and Visakhapatnam on 25 September, exposing a decade-long criminal enterprise that had deceived countless desperate couples.
“Seized documents revealed that foreign passport holding parents discovered that the child delivered through her clinic was not their biological child when the child’s foreign passport was denied after a DNA test confirmed that the child was not their biological child,” the ED stated in its official release Friday.
Dr Pachipalli Namratha, operating under the alias Athluri Namratha, had perfected the art of exploiting hope. Her Universal Srushti Fertility & Research Centre didn’t just promise parenthood—it guaranteed it, for a price that reflected the desperation of her clients.
The initial complaint that sparked the investigation painted a familiar picture of manipulation.
“In the initial complaint lodged with the police, it was revealed that the couple who had opted for a child through the surrogacy method were promised a child through surrogacy by using their own egg and sperm to form embryos which would be screened and implanted into a surrogate mother arranged by the clinic,” the ED detailed.
The promise was comprehensive and convincing. Couples were assured that all documentation would be handled professionally, and a healthy child would be delivered after DNA confirmation. The clinic’s sophisticated facade included proper surrogacy agreements, medical documentation, and what appeared to be legitimate procedures.
But behind the clinical efficiency lay a sinister truth. Instead of the promised biological connection, Dr Namratha was running a child trafficking operation disguised as medical treatment.
The financial mechanics of the fraud revealed its calculated cruelty. Couples paid Rs 30 lakh—Rs 15 lakh by cheque and Rs 15 lakh in cash, with the latter claimed to be direct payment to surrogates. However, the reality was far more exploitative.
“However, DNA verification confirmed that the child was not their biological child. Agents were also found to be involved in the racket by arranging poor, vulnerable and pregnant women and luring them with money to give up their child as soon as the child was born,” the ED investigation revealed.
The clinic was purchasing babies from impoverished biological parents for Rs 4.5 lakh for boys and Rs 3.5 lakh for girls, then selling them to desperate couples for ten times that amount. The agents facilitating these transactions received their commissions, while the majority of profits flowed directly to Dr Namratha.
The investigation uncovered a network that spanned multiple states and operated for over 15 years.
“Searches conducted by the ED resulted in the seizure of documents which revealed that she was offering such services to couples across India in different centres in Hyderabad, Vijaywada, Visakhapatnam, Nellore, Kolkata, etc. Seized documents also revealed that Dr Namratha was involved in these activities for more than 10 years,” the agency stated.
Dr Namratha had created an elaborate legal framework to legitimise her operations. “She created legal documents in the form of surrogacy agreements to project that the childless couples and carrier (surrogate) themselves approached her and she was just providing the surrogacy services,” the ED noted.
The sophistication extended to forged medical records, fabricated DNA reports, and the illegal use of retired doctors’ licenses. The operation included anaesthetists, embryologists, gynecologists, and a network of agents who specifically targeted vulnerable women facing financial hardship or seeking abortions.
Beyond the financial fraud lies a deeper tragedy of exploited vulnerabilities. The scheme preyed on two groups at society’s margins: desperate couples yearning for children, and impoverished women facing impossible choices. Some biological parents, driven by poverty, sold their children to the centre for cash, unaware their infants would be presented to other couples as surrogate babies.
The case, now under investigation by an SIT, has revealed losses ranging from Rs 25-44 lakh per couple, with 25 individuals arrested including five doctors, multiple agents, and biological parents who participated in the scheme.
“ED initiated investigation on the basis of multiple FIRs registered by the Gopalapuram Police Station, Hyderabad for fraud, cheating, criminal conspiracy, illegal surrogacy and child trafficking,” the agency explained. The initial FIR was registered on July 25, 2025, by a Hyderabad couple who had been duped of over Rs 30 lakh.
(Edited by Amit Vasudev)
