Published Friday, April 24, 2020
Second IVF baby born in the country
By the A.M. Costa Rica staff

Sammuel is the second baby and first boy born after being fertilized using the "in vitro" technique in the country.

According to the Social Security summary, Sammuel was born on April 22 at 8 p.m. at the Women’s Hospital, weighing 3,100 grams and measured 50 centimeters.

In this case, the authorities did not give further information about his parents.



On April 18, Isabel was the first-born baby by the in vitro technique in the country. She was born at 8:50 p.m. in the same hospital and weighed 2,530 grams and measured 46 centimeters, confirmed Freddy Pérez Núñez, a gynecologist at the Hospital.

"She is the light of our lives ... the love that blossomed of my wife and me, many years that we were waiting and we believed that we were going to be parents and now here we have her," said Enrique Rodríguez, the proud father.

The in vitro pregnancy process for Keilyn Molina, Isabel's mother, was done at the Social Security Reproductive Medicine Unit in July 2019.

Isabel was the first and Sammuel was the second artificial insemination birth in Costa Rica.

It is expected that more births with this technique will be reported soon, since 46 fresh embryo transfers and 16 deferred embryo transfers have been made since last year.

The Unit has achieved a 53% pregnancy rate which exceeds the exceptional ones, said the Social Security in its statement.

There are currently 13 couples, who already have pregnancy periods longer than 12 weeks, and a total of 612 new cases have been evaluated, Social Security said.

As previously reported, the in vitro technique was implemented in Social Security after years of complaints by Costa Rican couples for not providing that medical treatment.

In Dec. 2019, in a joint resolution issued by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, officials terminated the cases of complaints against the government for lacking development or access of in vitro fertilization.

According to the resolution, the court considered that the government complied with the reparation measures ordered in the judgment of Nov. 28, 2012, and Nov. 29, 2016.

According to the complaints filed by the Artavia-Murillo family, the Gomez-Murillo family and others affected, they cited the lack of access in the country to the in vitro fertilization process.

The court, based in San Pedro, San Jose Province, positively assessed the regulations issued by the government, in which it has allowed regulating and providing access to fertilization at both the private and public sectors.

According to the minister of Foreign Affairs, in July 2019, a delegation of the Inter-American Court visited the High Complexity Reproductive Medicine Unit located at the Women's Hospital, which verified actions taken to include the availability of in vitro fertilization in Social Security.

The text of both Resolutions is found on the official website of the Inter-American Court.


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