Shared Care Schedule
Shared Care Programme
Our Shared Care Programme is for embryo donation patients who are able to have their initial tests performed in a local clinic in their home country. If your local clinic is supportive and able to work with us, this means you do not need to travel to our St. Petersburg clinic for an Initial Consultation visit.
Shared Care Schedule
The Shared Care Programme for embryo recipients at AVA-Peter can be summarized in 10 clear steps: 
1. Firstly, ask your local doctor if he or she is ready and able to support you in your embryo donation attempt. After receiving the doctor’s consent, please send the contact details of your doctor toinfo@clinic.avapeter.com, so that we can discuss the details of your treatment. Please also fill in our questionnaire. If you wish, you can ask your doctor to carry out some of the necessary tests now (see point 6).
2. Send several colour photographs of yourself to info@clinic.avapeter.com. These may have been taken recently or in your 20s or 30s. They should include 2 clear photographs of your head and face (1 looking into the camera and 1 of your profile) plus another photograph of you standing.
3. We contact you to discuss your information and to see when you wish to start treatment. We can be flexible and always aim to fit treatment around your own schedule. We also discuss your preferences in terms of choosing an egg and sperm donor, and match you with the most suitable person who is available to donate eggs within the timeframe most convenient for you (unless you are using frozen embryos). We always use frozen-thawed sperm. You receive non-identifying information about your donors, including relevant medical details and physical characteristics. If you agree to use these donors, we confirm that all parties are ready to go ahead with treatment. If you would prefer another donor, we look through our databank again.
4. Only after you have accepted the donors and the dates, we e-mail you the applications for your signature and the invoice for your payment. The payment should be made by money transfer not later than 2 weeks before the donor starts taking medication (the ‘stimulation phase’) if you are using fresh embryos. If you are using frozen embryos, payment should be made at least 3 weeks before the Embryo Transfer.
5. If using fresh embryos, you usually start to take oral contraceptive tablets (prescribed by your doctor) in order to synchronize your menstrual cycle with that of the egg donor. One week before taking the last tablet, you may have one injection of a ‘down-regulating’ drug. This will allow optimal synchronization with your donor by ensuring your ovaries remain inactive until after the Embryo Transfer. After finishing the tablets on the date agreed, you stop and a ‘withdrawal bleed’ (a period) follows a few days later.
6. Your doctor needs to carry out the tests outlined below and check the results. All results need to be sent to us using fax or e-mail, and we will need you to bring the originals with you to AVA-Peter when you come for the Embryo Transfer. Please note that the transfer is only possible if all the parameters are normal.
Some of the tests are only valid for 1 month, and they need to be still valid at the point when you start your Embryo Transfer treatment cycle Please bear this in mind when selecting a date for the tests. If you would prefer to know in advance whether all your results will be normal, you may wish to have all the tests carried out a few months before the planned Embryo Transfer. You can then repeat those tests that are only valid for 1 month closer to the date of the planned Embryo Transfer.
The following tests will be required for the female partner:
- Blood group
- HIV, Hepatitis B and C, Lues (valid 3 months)
- Clinical blood count (valid 1 month): RBC (red blood cells); WBC (white blood cells including count of their fractions: lymphocytes, neutrophils, basophils, eosynophils); haemoglobin
- Biochemical parameters in blood: glucose, kreatinin, bilirubine, ALAT, ASAT, general protein (valid 1 month)
- Bacteriology smear (valid 1 month)
- PAP smear
- TSH Prolactin
- A letter from a general practitioner from your home country about your state of general health and stating that there are no contraindications to pregnancy.
7.You will already have received confirmation of the dates of your stay. Please ensure you arrange a visa, flights and a hotel corresponding to these dates. If using fresh embryos, we advise you to arrive in St. Petersburg 2 days before the planned date of the Embryo Transfer. The exact date of Egg Collection in the donor depends on the donor’s response to her medication, and can therefore be up to two days earlier or later than planned. The exact date of the Egg Collection (and therefore the date of the Embryo Transfer) will be known only 3-4 days beforehand, but it is definitely not advisable to wait until this stage to arrange your visa, flights and hotel. Your visit will last 5 days (the day of the Embryo Transfer +/- 2 days).
If you are using frozen embryos, you should arrive in St. Petersburg the day before Embryo Transfer. You will have a short meeting with your doctor either on the day that you arrive or in the morning of the following day. Once your doctor has confirmed that you are well prepared, that your tests show normal results and your documents have been correctly filled in, the embryos will be defrosted several hours before the Embryo Transfer. Your visit will last 2 days.
8. After your ‘withdrawal bleed’, you follow the instructions of your local doctor to prepare for the Embryo Transfer. This typically involves having a scan one week after the last contraceptive tablet (i.e. a few days after your ‘withdrawal bleed’ has started) to confirm that your womb lining is thin. Oestrogen treatment then begins, under the care of your local doctor. This usually involves taking oestrogens in the form of tablets, patches and/or gel. Your local doctor may also issue you with a prescription for progesterone. You start taking progesterone (usually in the form of vaginal pessaries or cream) 5 days before the planned Embryo Transfer. 
9. You arrive in St. Petersburg 2 days before the planned Embryo Transfer date and meet your doctor at AVA-Peter for the first time. At this first visit to AVA-Peter, we will check the uterine lining of the embryo recipient and process your documentation. You will also be able to ask the doctor any questions, and to familiarize yourself with the clinic and our procedures.
10. If you are using fresh embryos, the eggs will be fertilized on the day of Egg Collection by your donor’s sperm. The exact date of the Egg Collection will be known 3-4 days beforehand. Once fertilized, the eggs become embryos and are grown in our laboratory for five days. After five days, they are known as blastocysts. If you are using frozen embryos, these will be defrosted ready for use according to your personal treatment plan. These frozen embryos are already at the blastocyst stage. We transfer one or two of the best embryos into the womb of the egg recipient, according to how many embryos you want to have replaced.. If you have chosen to use ‘personal’ egg and sperm donors, we can freeze any good-quality embryos remaining for your own personal use later on. If you are using ‘clinic donors’, you only receive the one or two embryos that are transferred during this cycle. Any remaining embryos will be placed in our embryo donor bank.
In 2008, we had a 60% pregnancy rate when replacing two fresh embryos at blastocyst stage.
We wish you successful treatment and a positive result in our clinic!
Very kind regards,
Your AVA-Peter team
Interested in embryo donation at AVA-Peter?
Please first fill in our questionnaire This will be assessed by one of our experienced doctors, who will then get in touch with you using your preferred contact method.
If you have any questions, an English-speaking receptionist is available to take your call on 007 812 600 7812 between 07:00-14:00 Central European time (06.00-13.00 UK time). You can also reach us by e-mail at info@clinic.avapeter.com
We look forward to hearing from you!
Very kind regards,
Your AVA-Peter team
