A joint Health Ministry and Israel Police investigation revealed on Monday that medical staff at an invitro fertilization clinic imported fertilized human eggs from the Georgian Republic, affected with hemophilia B - a severe genetic disorder.
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The Health Ministry said that three women received faulty eggs from a donor with a genetic defect. Among them was a woman who gave birth to a baby girl also carrying a genetic mutation, and another woman underwent a stillbirth in the 21st week of pregnancy after learning that the fetus carried the hemophilia gene.
Another woman underwent an embryo implant procedure but did not conceive. Two more embryos remained frozen. The Bat Yam Magistrate's Court released the senior doctor and the laboratory manager at the center of the incident, under restrictive conditions and a gag order was issued against releasing their names.
According to police, the women received eggs from a donor in Baku, Azerbaijan. The eggs were extracted at a clinic in Batumi, in the Georgian Republic, where they were manipulated and frozen. The embryo transplant process took place in Israel.
The Israel Police’s fraud division in Tel Aviv announced that an investigation has been launched following an internal examination by the Health Ministry and a complaint filed with the police regarding suspicion of implanting faulty eggs with a genetic disease to several patients. So far, four complaints have been lodged against the suspects.
As part of a covert investigation over the past few months, in collaboration with the intelligence unit and with assistance from the Health Ministry, evidence has been gathered against two suspects from a medical team specializing in vitro fertilization.
The mother who gave birth to the baby girl with the same genetic defect underwent the procedure due to her age. It was one of her last options to bring a child into the world. The infant, born a few months ago at a hospital in central Israel, is undergoing an intensive medical examination to understand the implications of carrying the gene.