Shared Care schedule
Our Shared Care Programme is for egg 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. However, this also means that we will not be able to freeze sperm from your male partner during this visit. He will therefore need to be present in St. Petersburg 2 days in advance of the planned date of Egg Collection
Shared Care Schedule
The Shared Care Programme for egg recipients at AVA-Peter can be summarised in 10 clear steps: 
1 Firstly, ask your local doctor if he or she is ready and able to support you in your egg 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 a donor, and match you with the most suitable person who is available to donate within the timeframe most convenient for you. You receive non-identifying information about your donor, including relevant medical details and physical characteristics. If you agree to use this donor, 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 donor 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’).
5 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 of Embryo Transfer. 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.
The following tests will be required for the male partner (if the sperm of the partner is used): HIV, Hepatitis B and C, Lues (valid 3 months). Your partner’s sperm must be tested too.
6 In most cases, you start to take oral contraceptive tablets (prescribed by your doctor) in order to synchronise your menstrual cycle with that of the egg donor. One week before taking the last tablet, you may have one or more injections of a ‘down-regulating’ drug. This will allow optimal synchronisation 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.
7 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, patsches 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.
8 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. We advise you if possible to arrive in St. Petersburg 2 days before the Egg Collection is planned. You need to arrive 2 days in advance as the exact date of Egg Collection 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 will be known only 3-4 days beforehand, but it is definitely not advisable to wait until this stage to arrange your a visa, flights and hotel. 
9 You arrive in St. Petersburg 2 days in advance of the planned date for Egg Collection 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 egg recipient and process your documentation. You will also be able to ask the doctor any questions, and to familiarise yourself with the clinic and our procedures.
10 On the day that the donor’s eggs are collected, the male partner will be required to produce semen to fertilise the eggs (unless you use a sperm donor). We advise the male partner not to ejaculate (during sexual intercourse or through masturbation) for 2-5 days before producing his semen sample. The exact date of the Egg Collection will be known 3-4 days beforehand. Once fertilised, the eggs become embryos and are grown in our laboratory for three or (more usually) five days. After five days, they are known as blastocysts. 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 wish, we can freeze any good-quality embryos remaining.
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 egg 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 81 2336 3059 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
Related pages in other lnguages: Deutsch Eizellspende Netherlands Eiceldonatie Dansk Ægdonation
