BUCHAREST, Romania - Three Romanians were detained and 20 people were being questioned on suspicion of performing in vitro fertilization illegally, Romanian organized crime prosecutors said Monday.
Prosecutors said the three ran a private clinic in Bucharest that performed in vitro fertilization without a license.
In vitro fertilization is legal in Romania if a clinic is authorized by the government, and if the eggs are donated or the couple's own. All sales of human cells are banned.
The clinic paid young Romanian women about 800 lei ($280, C200) to undergo ovarian stimulation and produce eggs which were sold to foreign couples, mainly Israelis, according to media reports.
Prosecutors said around 30 women were at the clinic preparing for in vitro fertilization when they entered the clinic late Sunday.
Two Israeli doctors who came to Romania to perform in vitro fertilization at the clinic may not leave the country for 30 days while an investigation is under way, prosecutors said.
National Transplant Agency chairman Victor Zota said the clinic functioned illegally for three years before receiving authorization for in vitro fertilization last week.
There was no law governing in vitro fertilization until 2006.
