The Hot New Crime: Embryo Smuggling

Don’t underestimate the lengths to which people will go to start and grow their families.

(Image via Getty)

Last month, a man was arrested for a new and bizarre crime: embryo smuggling. Traveling from Malaysia to India, officials found the man trying to smuggle at least one human embryo in his luggage. He had placed the embryo in a nitrogen canister, and hoped that it wouldn’t be detected. Of course, importing human embryos into India for any purpose other than research is a violation of Indian law. Because none of the news stories reporting on the incident showed a picture of the nitrogen canister, we have no choice but to imagine that it looked like the shaving cream can used by Nedry (Newman!) in Jurassic Park.

A Sting Operation and Conspiracy Theories

According to news reports, the smuggler, a man named Partheban Durai, confessed that this was not his first time smuggling human embryos, and that he had done so at least eight or nine times before for delivery to a high-end fertility clinic in Mumbai. The Indian Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) (which sounds like a cross between the IRS and the FBI) organized a sting operation to complete the delivery under surveillance. The clinic founder, Dr. Goral Gandhi, accepted the canister. A lawyer representing Dr. Gandhi issued a statement that the doctor is not part of an embryo smuggling ring, and does not import embryos. The lawyer suggested that the doctor was set up, in a “conspiracy hatched by persons which may include competitors.”

The DRI searched the clinic’s premises, and the doctor is currently under investigation. The case of Durai, the smuggler, is set to be heard in Bombay High Court on April 13, 2019.

But Why?

Several theories have been presented as to why such smuggling would occur. One theory is that some Indian couples specifically request European-looking babies, or other specific genetic traits, and are seeking embryos with such genetic compositions to be imported. A second theory is that the embryos were coming from Malaysia and being transported for use in surrogacy, possibly by Malaysian hopeful parents. The second theory seems more plausible, because the smuggler was reported to be in association with a Malaysian surrogacy agency. Malaysia is a Muslim country, and issued a fatwa, or religious ban, on surrogacy in 2008. And while surrogacy is also controversial in India, with a prohibition being in place on foreign intended parents and paid surrogacy, a law passed in December 2018 permits altruistic (non-compensated) surrogacy. The law specifically prohibits the import of embryos for surrogacy, a crime punishable with up to 10 years in prison.

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Sperm, Eggs, and Blood Smuggling

While embryo smuggling may be the latest form of lawbreaking to conceive a child, it is certainly not the first. Two years ago, a man was reported to be caught smuggling sperm, and possibly eggs and embryos, across the Thai-Laos border. Moreover, it was recently reported that a 12-year-old girl was smuggling over 100 blood samples from pregnant women out of mainland China. China prohibits the testing for gender during pregnancy due to a historic preference for male children, which has led to a severe imbalance in the country’s population. It is reported that the samples were being smuggled out of the country to undergo gender testing of the fetuses carried by the pregnant women.

Stuck Embryos

Loyal readers will remember my previous coverage of embryos being stuck in India. At one time, India was a popular destination for hopeful parents across the world. But when the government shut down all surrogacy with foreign intended parents, many people had embryos already in India, and found themselves in the unfortunate position of not being able to move them to another country. While I haven’t seen reports of smugglers being caught sneaking embryos out of India, there were likely many desperate intended parents looking at all options.

Life Will Find A Way

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Of course the underlying problem is that embryo smuggling is even a thing. Advancements in assisted reproductive technology have brought the joy of having children to so many. Let’s hope that countries can work toward reasonable regulation and enforcement to permit responsible family building, while protecting the vulnerable. Because when taking embryos across borders is outlawed, only outlaws will do it. In other words, don’t underestimate the lengths to which people will go to start and grow their families.


Ellen TrachmanEllen Trachman is the Managing Attorney of Trachman Law Center, LLC, a Denver-based law firm specializing in assisted reproductive technology law, and co-host of the podcast I Want To Put A Baby In You. You can reach her at babies@abovethelaw.com.