Illegal surrogacy racket behind social media ads

THE social media ad promised to 'Find your surrogate mother in 7 days!' with the tagline 'Speed and precision to match you with the surrogate.' But, as it turns out, behind the polished online posts and promises lurks a network that preys on poor, illiterate women—luring them with offers of quick money to become egg donors and surrogates.

- P RAMDAS @ Kochi

The recent busting of a ring linked to a fertility clinic in Kochi has exposed an illegal assisted reproductive technology (ART) racket flourishing in Kerala. In the police action on MamaMia Life Solutions Pvt Ltd in Edappally, five women from West Bengal and a mother and her child from Tamil Nadu were rescued and placed in protective custody. The women, all around 25 years old, were reportedly brought to Kerala and persuaded to become either surrogate mothers or egg donors, lured purely by the promise of money. Illegal clinics had promised them between ₹30,000-40,000, but once they arrived they were paid only a meagre sum, Kalamassery police said.

Despite stringent regulations, unlicensed operators exploit loopholes in the system.