Santariškės Clinic 1st to provide artificial insemination under new law

The State Health Care Accreditation Agency said this was so far the only institution certified to provide the services, adding that five institutions had submitted applications.

The Santariskes Clinic said its fertility center has launched Lithuania’s first licensed sex cell bank, which stores sex cells, reproductive tissue and embryos created during artificial insemination. The hospital emphasized that the procedures were crucial for couples suffering from fertility problems and cancer patients seeking to preserve their fertility before their treatment.

The provision of artificial insemination procedures was suspended from January, as the new Artificial Insemination Law required for the institutions to renew their licenses. Nora Ribokienė, the head of the accreditation agency, has said that the institutions needed two licenses, i.e., one for the sex cell bank and one for artificial insemination procedures.

Enforced in January, the law allows couples with fertility problems to receive state financing for artificial insemination procedures, with no limit imposed upon the number of embryos created during the procedure. Amendments to the law took effect in February, putting the institutions under the obligation to store the unused embryos indefinitely, also allowing embryo donations.