Why are fertility centres in Hyderabad in crosshairs over human egg harvesting? Explained

The story so far: Hyderabad has emerged as healthcare hub in India with a large number of private hospitals providing state of the art healthcare. Simultaneously, there has been a surge in number of fertility centres that promise successful childbirth for couples finding it difficult to have children.

There are advertisements on autorickshaws and even bus bays promising a range of fertility treatments for couples finding it difficult to have children. In the last week of October, the Telangana police raided three premises and rescued 29 women from six states who were kept in confinement for harvesting their oocytes (eggs).

IUI or Intrauterine Insemination, IVF of in-vitro fertilisation, ICSI (Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection), are some of the fertility procedures that these centres provide at a cost to help parents conceive. Along with these medical procedures, these specialised centres were performing other related interventions like ovarian simulation, egg retrieval, embryo transfer, surgical sperm retrieval and frozen embryo transfer.