811 Egg Sales Recorded in Total

The investigation was launched by the Terrorism and Organised Crime Investigation Bureau of the Istanbul Anatolian Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office following a tip-off submitted through CİMER, Turkey’s Presidential Communication Centre. Investigators uncovered evidence that illegal reproductive cell trafficking linked to Turkey, the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), Albania and Georgia was being conducted in an organised manner.

An assessment of HTS telephone records, Financial Crimes Investigation Board (MASAK) records, international travel information and other evidence established that Turkish women were being directed abroad to sell their eggs in exchange for financial gain.

The investigation found that 41 women had sold their eggs a total of 811 times. According to a statement by the Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office, each reproductive cell was sold for between €60 and €80.

Details of the operation have also emerged. Investigators determined that the person believed to be the organisation’s leader had initially worked as an egg donor before taking charge of the operation after learning the procedures in detail.

The investigation found that Hacer T., the alleged leader of the organisation, had worked as a textile worker until 2020, when she began donating eggs through a friend. Over time, she learned how the system worked and improved her financial situation by recruiting new women as donors and earning commissions for arranging donations in pursuit of greater profits.

She later began a relationship outside marriage with Muharrem Ş., one of the organisation’s managers, with whom she carried out these activities and obtained medication. The two subsequently began coordinating the supply of medication and donor recruitment under a single operation.

The suspects established direct contact with hospitals in Cyprus and, over time, reached agreements with doctors operating in various Turkish provinces. They also began overseeing unregistered examinations and preparation procedures.

Investigators found that the suspects subsequently went beyond collecting commissions, taking joint control of numerous aspects of the process, from the medication supply chain to treatment itself. They began seeking to increase the number of eggs produced by donor women in order to generate greater profits. Over the past six years, Hacer T. had risen from an egg donor to the alleged leader of the organisation.

A catalogue was also discovered during the digital examination of the female suspect’s devices. It contained information about the personal and physical characteristics of women whose eggs had been collected and was shared with potential customers.

Investigators found that the organisation had collected and shared the women’s personal information to market their eggs, based on the fact that, biologically, the person whose egg is used—not the woman who gives birth—is the genetic mother.

Details including blood group, eye colour, skin tone and hair colour were separately archived. Customers were reportedly told that children conceived using the eggs would be likely to inherit these characteristics. The investigation established that the personal and physical profiles of egg donors were recorded and presented to potential customers, with a pricing scale drawn up according to the characteristics they requested.

Searches, seizures and detentions were carried out simultaneously at the suspects’ addresses.

A simultaneous operation conducted today in 14 provinces, including Istanbul, resulted in legal proceedings being initiated against 53 suspects. They included one alleged leader, five alleged managers, 41 female donors, two obstetricians and gynaecologists, and four travel organisers.

In a social media post, Turkish Justice Minister Akın Gürlek said: “We will not allow criminal organisations that make unjust profits from the human body to operate.”

Gürlek also thanked the Istanbul Anatolian Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office for conducting the investigation meticulously, as well as the police personnel involved in the operation and all other public officials who contributed to it.

Source: NTV