Romania Detains Two over Human-Egg Trafficking

A Romanian court has ordered the detention of an Israeli man and a Romanian woman accused of organizing a human egg-trafficking ring, prosecutors said on Thursday.

The two are the managers of the Bucharest private clinic Med New Life, judiciary sources told Mediafax news agency, without naming the pair.

Romanian police on Tuesday busted a human egg-trafficking ring involving Israeli specialists in assisted reproduction and Romanian medical personnel.

According to police, the suspects recruited Romanian women -- mostly impoverished students -- and paid them 600 to 800 euros ($800-$1,100) for their eggs, which is illegal in Romania.

They then sold them for up to 4,000 euros to Israeli couples seeking assisted fertilization.

In November, a Romanian court sentenced four Israeli doctors in absentia to five years in prison for a similar egg-trafficking case.