Dealing with disturbing reports on an organized illegal egg (oocyte) donation racket operating in the city, the Karnataka Health Department has initiated a high-level campaign to crack down on In-Vitro Fertilization (IVF) and Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) centers in Bengaluru. The move follows intelligence that vulnerable women are being lured from multiple states with financial baits and then brought here to seek illegal medical procedures.
The Genesis of the Investigation
The controversy was propelled by the arrest of four suspects in Maharashtra recently. Alarming reports indicate the suspects were believed to have been members of a sophisticated network that took women from Maharashtra and Telangana to Bengaluru for illegal egg harvesting. It has been noted that these women were exploited through intermediaries who offered huge sums of money and then exposed them to unregulated medical extractions, with serious long-term health dangers.
These developments have made the Health Department harsh on the individuals responsible and it has reiterated that these actions are both in violation of the Assisted Reproductive Technology (Regulation) Act, 2021 and also constitute acts of the greatest violation of women's health and safety rights.
Government and Official Directives
Karnataka’s health minister, Dinesh Gundu Rao, has reportedly asked top health officials to perform a thorough audit of all registered IVF centres in the state. Officials, he said, have been told to check donor registries, consent forms and financial records where there’s any confusion that could lead to illegal activities.
Dr. Ravindranath M. Meti, Chief Health Officer of Bengaluru City, said the surveillance has been intensified. “I have instructed our officers and staff to keep a rigorous watch, especially at scanning centers, which are the first point of contact or screening in such rackets. The Deputy Director in charge of ART centers, Dr. Vivek Dore, is personally overseeing the monitoring process to ensure no illegal activity is overlooked," he said.
Understanding the Racket: Exploitation for Profit
This illegal egg trade is based on the desperation of childless couples who are willing to pay large amounts of money for effective IVF and on the financial fragility of desperate women. Middlemen then locate women ready for immediate cash and transport them to Bengaluru, where some unscrupulous private hospitals extract eggs without adhering to the legally limited cooling-off periods or donor limits.
Egg donation is regulated under Indian law so the physical exploitation of donors is not allowed. Still, the current racket gets around such safeguards, frequently doing multiple extractions of the same woman in a short duration, and end up with serious health complications such as Ovarian Hyperstimulation Syndrome (OHSS).
Next Steps in Enforcement
Any IVF center or scanning clinics that are complicit in this trade face immediate cancellation of their licences and criminal prosecution from the Health Department. The Maharashtra and Telangana police must be alerted and the state must cooperate with them; the inter-state network of agents facilitating the trade must be dismantled. A further development of investigation to ensure that those who profit from the illegal commodification of human reproductive cells do not come to Bengaluru and its reputation as a medical city shall not be compromised.
