A controversial geneticist, Severino Antinori, who became known for helping women over 60 years old to become pregnant, was arrested for stealing eggs from a patient.

70 year-old Antinori was arrested on Friday at Fiumicino airport in Rome after a 24 year-old Spanish woman, which was submitted to treatment for a cyst found in her ovaries at his gynecological clinic in Milan, sued him.

The doctor has been house arrested in Rome and lost his license for a year, said the police and other sources the AGI agency relies on. He is accused of theft and personal injury. The Spanish woman is a qualified nurse and had recently started working for him in his clinic in Milan.

The judicial authorities in Italy suspect that Antinori, who met by chance the 24 year-old, hired her and diagnosed her with cyst to steal her eggs. The woman claims that she was restrained, anaesthetized and operated against her will while she thought he simply would have made some injections to take care of her reported problem.

Antinori’s advocates marked the accusations “absurd”.
The authorities, however, investigate the possibility that this is not an isolated case. “Severino Antinori’s arrest is a very serious matter because it shows that there is an unstoppable egg market”, said Donata Lenzi, a MP of the ruling Democratic Party.
Antinori became worldwide famous because he helped older women, even over 60 years old, to have children through artificial insemination. In 2009 he claimed cloning three babies without giving any further details.

Source: ΝewsIt