{"id":14205,"date":"2023-02-20T12:26:14","date_gmt":"2023-02-20T12:26:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/olgafertilityclinic.com\/?p=14205"},"modified":"2024-09-11T08:54:34","modified_gmt":"2024-09-11T08:54:34","slug":"tv2no-mona","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/olgafertilityclinic.com\/en\/press\/tv2no-mona\/","title":{"rendered":"Traveling to Russia for IVF treatment: \u00abMona\u00bb (40): \u2013 This journey is not the first you take"},"content":{"rendered":"

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“PAINFUL AND PERSONAL”: Mona and her boyfriend have been trying to become parents for years before seeking help in Norway. But their dream brought them to St. Petersburg.
\nPhoto: Christian Roth Christensen \/ TV<\/p>\n

TV2, Norway,\u00a019 Feb 2023 | Selma\u00a0Joner <\/strong>\u00a0|\u00a0Sofie\u00a0Presteg\u00e5rd <\/strong>\u00a0|\u00a0Christian Roth\u00a0Christensen (photo) <\/strong>\u00a0|\u00a0Frank\u00a0Lervik (photo) <\/strong>\u00a0|\u00a0Truls\u00a0Aagedal (graphics)<\/strong>\u00a0|\u00a0Translation into English by Anna Svarinskaya<\/strong><\/p>\n

The link to the original in Norwegian at TV2 website:
\nwww.tv2.no\/nyheter\/innenriks\/mona-40-det-er-ikke-den-forste-reisen-du-tar\/15457647\/<\/a><\/p>\n

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Liv\u2019s podcast at NRK Radio
\n“Liv\u2019s last chance”<\/strong>
\nListen to the podcast now<\/a> \u2192<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n


While the entire West has turned its back on Russia because of war, many Norwegian women travel to St. Petersburg to become pregnant.<\/strong><\/p>\n

In December 2022, “Mona” is crossing the Estonian-Russian border on foot. She has all her papers in order, in Norwegian, English and Russian. She has her visa, and a private driver is waiting for her on the Russian side.<\/p>\n

When the border guards understand the purpose of her travel, she is let through. Because she is far from being the first one who chooses to travel to Russia to fulfill her dream of a family.<\/p>\n

Even after Russia invaded Ukraine almost a year ago – and even though the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) now advises against all travel there.<\/p>\n

During the war year 2022, 72 Norwegian women and couples did as Mona did, and traveled to a fertility clinic in St. Petersburg, according to the clinic’s own figures.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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WAITING TIME: In December Mona crossed the Russian border to get fertility treatment.
\nPhoto: Mona’s private photo<\/p>\n

When TV 2 gets in touch with Mona, it is eight weeks since she traveled to Russia and had her embryo transfer there.<\/p>\n

– It is not a lucky situation. When you struggle to have children, this journey is not the first you take, she says.<\/p>\n

Mona is not her real name, but for her sake and for the child she is carrying now, here we will call her Mona.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

– A country at war<\/h3>\n

Traveling to Russia after the invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, is far from easy.<\/p>\n

Already three days after the outbreak of the war, the Foreign Ministry advised against travel to Russia.<\/p>\n

– Russia is a country at war. It is still an unclear situation that can rapidly take a turn for the worse. It is difficult to travel both in and out of the country. There is a shortage of both cash and goods, says the communications adviser in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ane Haavardsdatter Lunde.<\/p>\n

There are no direct flights there anymore. The airspace is closed to Norwegian aircraft. Visa and Mastercard cards no longer work in the country unless you have received them from a Russian bank.
\nThe West has responded to Russia’s war aggression with a comprehensive economic boycott.<\/p>\n

But in the shadow of the major political conflict, the dream of children has driven Norwegians to try everything \u2014 even in the country we have turned our backs on.<\/p>\n

\u00abBaby guarantee\u00bb<\/h3>\n

Mona and her boyfriend tried to have children on their own for a long time.<\/p>\n

– Age is starting to catch up on you, and you don’t have much time, she says.<\/p>\n

When that didn’t work, the road led them to the public system in Norway and they went through four unsuccessful IVF attempts. IVF is a method of fertilizing an egg outside the body, and then reinserting it.<\/p>\n

– We were told that it was simply not possible for us to get pregnant. Not even a tiny chance, it was just a matter of giving up, says Mona.<\/strong><\/p>\n

They wanted to give it another try and chose egg donation.<\/p>\n

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“MANY FAILURES”: Four failed attempts with IVF in Norway, and a number of trips to Russia were needed to fulfill the baby’s dream.
\nPhoto: Mona’s private photos<\/p>\n

– When you want children so passionately, you probably get a little, I wouldn’t say damaged, but you do very, very much to make it happen, says Mona.<\/strong><\/p>\n

She was done with what she experienced as the assembly line method in the public Norwegian healthcare system and wanted to get help somewhere with other methods and individually tailored treatment.<\/p>\n

– It is so painful and personal, and there are so many defeats.<\/p>\n

Mona googled her way to the Russian Fertility clinic O.L.G.A. in St. Petersburg. O.L.G.A. stands for “Offers livebirth guarantee assurance” and precisely offers a “baby guarantee”.<\/p>\n

A baby is born alive, or you get your money back.<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

HORMONES AND VITAMINS: The suitcase full of zinc, magnesium, folic acid, vitamin D, hormones and injections – Mona was under a rigorous medication regimen.
\nPhoto: Mona’s private photo<\/p>\n

Over 100 treatments last year<\/h3>\n

Dr. Olga Zaytseff is the woman behind the clinic.<\/p>\n

At the end of January this year, curious Norwegians could meet her in person at the seminar in the House of Literature (Litteraturhuset) in Oslo.<\/p>\n

In 2018 TV 2 already wrote about Dr Zaytseff’s seminars in Norway. For a number of years, Norwegian women and couples have been attending her seminars and “family gatherings” at the House of Literature. Both Norwegians who have been treated at the clinic and those who are considering treatment come to these meetings.<\/p>\n

Two pandemic years slowed travel activity to a certain degree, but Norwegians are still interested in Russian fertility assistance.<\/p>\n

According to the clinic’s figures, 72 Norwegians completed 115 treatments there last year. Half of them were having egg and embryo donation fertility treatments with Russian egg donors.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Age limit of 50 years old<\/h3>\n

The clinic offers a number of treatments that are not possible in Norway, such as double donation, genetic testing of embryos (PGT-A) and embryo donation.<\/p>\n

While the upper age limit for fertility treatment in Norway is 46, it is 50 at the O.L.G.A. clinic.<\/p>\n

In the Norwegian professional community, the trips to the O.L.G.A. clinic are met with scepticism. Among others there is an opinion from the senior doctor Camilla Kleveland, who works in the fertility section at St. Olav’s hospital in Trondheim, and she encourages patients to consider other options.<\/p>\n

– I think it is quite “risky” for them to travel there, says Kleveland, and explains:<\/strong><\/p>\n

– It is unfortunate to travel to Russia as the situation is now. If you want treatment in countries other than Norway for one reason or another, there are other good alternatives in Europe.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n
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What is IVF treatment?<\/strong><\/p>\n

These methods of assisted fertilization are approved in Norway:<\/p>\n