Hyderabad egg-trade racket: Women’s Commission faults slow action against clinics
Police say middlemen paid at least 400 women to give eggs to fertility centres. Only a few agents have been booked so far, and the Commission wants the clinics to explain.
The Telangana State Women’s Commission has criticised the slow pace of action in an alleged racket in which middlemen paid women in Hyderabad to have their eggs extracted for fertility clinics. It has issued notices to five fertility centres named in complaints and directed them to appear before it and explain.
The racket came to light after a police raid on a prostitution ring, which led Malkajgiri police to how women were being recruited for egg extraction. Police have arrested eight people and rescued 43 women. Preliminary inquiries suggest that at least 400 women gave eggs after being paid by middlemen, according to the police.
The Commission’s concern is that cases have so far been registered only against a few agents, while the clinics where the eggs were collected have faced no action. Investigators have identified ten fertility centres that allegedly worked with the network, in areas including LB Nagar, Banjara Hills, Ameerpet, Habsiguda and Punjagutta, and one report says as many as 22 fertility and assisted-reproduction centres are under scrutiny. Police say they are tracing payments between organisers, middlemen and clinics, and checking whether the centres followed the law. None of the centres has been charged.
Why it is illegal
Under the Assisted Reproductive Technology (Regulation) Act, 2021, buying or selling human eggs is an offence. A woman may donate eggs only once in her life, must have been married and have a child of her own, and no more than seven eggs may be taken from her. Egg extraction involves hormone injections and a minor procedure, and repeated extraction carries health risks, including a dangerous over-reaction of the ovaries to the drugs.
The case is the latest in a series of scandals in Hyderabad’s fast-growing fertility business. In 2025, police arrested a doctor accused of selling babies under the cover of surrogacy.
What’s next
The five centres must answer the Commission’s notices. Police are still following the money trail between the agents and the clinics.
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