A surrogate mother allegedly refused to part with a city couple's newborn twins on Friday till her fee was paid in cash, prompting the parents to forcibly take the babies home.

The surrogate mother was offered payment in cheques which she refused citing an inactive bank account. This prompted the couple to forcibly take the babies home from hospital after promising to pay the woman through cheques or online transfer once her account was activated, police sources said.

When contacted by Metro, the couple said they owed the woman Rs 1.5 lakh as part of the surrogacy contract the two sides had signed. After the twins were born she demanded another Rs 1.5 lakh, which the couple agreed to pay.

The couple, who refused to be identified, said they failed to arrange for enough notes totalling Rs 3 lakh following the ban on the Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 notes. The surrogate mother wanted the entire amount in cash when she was discharged from hospital on Friday.

"We could not arrange the entire amount in such a short time because of the cash crisis. When she refused to accept cheques saying her account had got deactivated because of zero balance, we paid her Rs 2,000 and asked her to deposit the money immediately in her account and get it reactivated. The thought of leaving my babies even for a day just because we could not collect enough notes was unbearable," said the legal mother who did not wish to be identified.

The surrogate mother allegedly tried to retain the twins and started screaming on the road in front of the south Calcutta hospital where she had given birth to them when the legal parents tried to forcibly take the babies away.

Officers from the local police station had to go to the spot to pacify the woman.

Metro tried to contact the surrogate mother but her cell phone was switched off.

Sources said the couple had signed the contract with the surrogate mother through an infertility clinic. The woman was supposed to get Rs 1 lakh during the pregnancy and another Rs 1.5 lakh after the delivery.