Hyderabad Has Become A Surrogacy Hub For The World With Annual Business Turnover At Rs 60 Crore

With childless couples flocking the Hyderabad from various parts of the globe in their quest for their bundle of joy, the`City of Pearls' has turned into a major reproductive tourism hub over the past 15 years or so.

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According to fertility experts, attracting infertile couples to Hyderabad is a large number of assisted reproductive technology (ART) centres, affordable treatment options, the presence of a large number of fertility experts and easy availability of surrogate mothers, particularly from neighbouring Rangareddy, Mahbubnagar, Nalgonda, and Medak districts.

Though there is the National Registry of ART Clinics and Banks in India, which is maintained by Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), it ironically does not maintain records of financial transactions.

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Shocking as it may seem, though only about 100 ARTs are registered with ICMR, various research papers published in leading medical journals peg the total number of ARTs thriving in the country at around 3,500 with an estimated turnover of around Rs 300 crore per annum.

Hyderabad has a fairly significant presence in the fertility business with an annual turnover of around Rs 60 crore, that is growing by about 10 per cent every year.

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In fact, the two Telugu speaking states of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh between them house nearly 100 ARTs, a chunk of which are in Hyderabad. Of course, most of these ARTs are not registered. An estimated 30,000 infertile couples undergo treatment in the two Telugu states every year.

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"Commercial surrogacy or `womb for rent' is a growing business. Of course, there are concerns that the surrogacy business is exploiting poor women. Unscrupulous fertility centres either overuse or inappropriately use commercial surrogacy to make profits.

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It is also feared that surrogacy could spin out of control driven by the greed to generate greater profits. There are instances of breach of contract either by the surrogate mother or the commissioning couple," said senior fertility expert Dr Roya Rozati, who heads the department of obstetrics and gynaecology at Owaisi Hospital and Research Centre.

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With Hyderabad finding itself in the eye of a storm over surrogacy, reproductive health experts are calling for a stringent regulatory regime to rein in unscrupulous elements, particularly in the backdrop of the city's growing demand as a major reproductive tourism hub in India.

According to fertility experts, about 12% of the city's population suffers from various levels of infertility. Doctors blame it on various factors ranging from stress to sedentary lifestyle and pollution to junk food. Taking advantage of the growing number of infertile couples, several unscrupulous surrogacy clinics are luring women from lower economic strata with money to aid the intending infertile parents.

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But compared to surrogate mothers in other parts of the world, women hired for traditional or gestational surrogacy are paid a pittance in Hyderabad.

Surrogate mothers get not less than 50% of the total cost of surrogacy pregnancy in developed countries like the USA. But in Hyderabad, it is not more than 25% of the total cost of the procedure.