In December 2022, “Mona” will cross the border from Estonia to Russia on foot.
She has all her papers in order, in Norwegian, English and Russian. She has a visa, and a private driver waiting on the other side.
When the border guards understand what she is going to, she is let through. Because she is far from the first Norwegian woman to travel to Russia to fulfill her dream of a family.
Even after Russia invaded Ukraine almost a year ago – and even though the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) now advises against all travel there.
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.
WAITING TIME: Mona crossed the Russian border in December to insert a fertilized egg. Photo: Mona’s private photo
When TV 2 gets in touch with Mona, it is eight weeks since she traveled to Russia and had a fertilized egg inserted.
– It is not a lucky situation. When you struggle to have children, this journey is not the first you take, she says.
Mona is not her real name, but for the sake of her and the child she is carrying, we call her that.
– A country at war
Traveling to Russia after the invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, is far from easy.
Already three days after the outbreak of the war, the Foreign Ministry advised against travel to Russia.
– Russia is a country at war. It is still an unclear situation that can rapidly deteriorate. It is difficult to travel both in and out of the country. There is a shortage of both cash and goods, says communications adviser in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ane Haavardsdatter Lunde.
There are no longer direct flights there. The airspace is closed to Norwegian aircraft. Bank cards from Visa and Mastercard no longer work in the country, unless you have received them from a Russian bank.
The West has responded to Russia’s war of aggression with a comprehensive economic boycott.
But in the shadow of the major political conflict, the dream of children has driven Norwegians to try everything – even in the country we have turned our backs on.
“Baby Guarantee”
Mona and her boyfriend tried for a long time to have children on their own.
– Age is starting to catch up, and you don’t have much time, she says.
When that didn’t work, the road went through the public offer in Norway and four unsuccessful attempts with IVF. It is a method of fertilizing an egg outside the body, then reinserting it.
– We were told that it was simply not possible to get pregnant. Not a chance, it was just a matter of giving up, says Mona.
They wanted to give it another try, and try egg donation.
“MANY FAILURES”: Four failed attempts with IVF in Norway, and a number of trips to Russia were needed to fulfill the baby dream. Photo: Mona’s private photos
– 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.
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 tailored treatment.
– It is so painful and personal, and so many defeats.
Mona googled her way to the Russian fertility clinic OLGA in St. Petersburg. It stands for “Offers livebirth guarantee assurance” and precisely offers a “baby guarantee”.
Baby born alive, or your money back.
HORMONES AND VITAMINS: The suitcase full of zinc, magnesium, folic acid, vitamin D, hormones and injections – Mona was under a heavy medication regimen. Photo: Mona’s private photo
Over 100 treatments last year
Dr. Olga Zaytseff is the woman behind the clinic.
At the end of January this year, curious Norwegians could meet her themselves in the basement of the Literature House in Oslo.
TV 2 wrote about Zaytseff’s many trips to Norway in 2018. For a number of years, Norwegian women and couples have attended her seminars and “family reunions” at the House of Literature. Both Norwegians who have been treated at the clinic and those who are considering it meet there.
Two pandemic years slowed travel activity somewhat, but Norwegians are still interested in Russian baby assistance.
According to the clinic’s own figures, the 72 Norwegians completed a total of 115 treatment sessions there last year. Half of them were assisted fertilization with Russian egg and embryo donation.
– The patients who come to us have tried all other options, says Zaytseff to TV 2 via Skype from St. Petersburg.
She elaborates:
– They are ready to go to the end of the world to fulfill their dream of a baby. They are not naive about Russia, but they choose the OLGA clinic because it is their last hope.
Age limit 50 years
The clinic offers a number of treatments that are not permitted in Norway, such as double donation, genetic testing of fertilized eggs (PGT-A) and embryo donation.
While the upper age limit for assisted reproduction in Norway is 46, it is 50 at the OLGA clinic.
In the Norwegian professional community, the Russian trips to the OLGA clinic are met with scepticism. Among other things from senior doctor Camilla Kleveland, who works in the fertility section at St. Olav’s hospital in Trondheim, who encourages consideration of other options.
– I think it is quite “risky” for them to travel there, says Kleveland, and elaborates:
– 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.
The OLGA clinic states that in 2021 they had around 1,300 international patients, while during the first year of the war it ended up with just under 1,000.
The clinic has given Norwegians advice on how to cross the border after the war started.
– We at the clinic apply for a medical visa for the patient from the Russian Ministry of the Interior, says Zaytseff.
The visa lasts for one year, and gives the opportunity to travel back and forth unlimitedly, she explains.
While during the corona pandemic she chartered a plane with 50 seats from Stockholm to St. Petersburg, the advice is now to fly to Tallinn or Helsinki and then take a bus to St. Petersburg.
– A special experience
Mona chose to fly to Tallinn and make use of the clinic’s offer of a private driver. First from the airport to the border, and then with a new driver from the border to the hotel in St. Petersburg.
Traveling to a country waging a war of invasion on the European continent was no easy decision.
– I have to be honest and say that it is a special experience, that in 2022 you cross a border on foot, says Mona.
She explains that showing the medical visa was seen as a “quick fix”. It was clear that the border guards were well acquainted with the OLGA clinic from before.
– I felt that the journey over was safe, even though the Ministry of Foreign Affairs advises against traveling there. We were in dialogue with the clinic throughout.
“Luxurious, pretty and clean”
On 22 December last year, in what Mona describes as a “luxurious, pretty and clean clinic” in the middle of St. Petersburg, a fertilized egg was inserted. Her own, with her boyfriend’s sperm.
“THE LIBRARY”: Patients from all over the world with the same wish meet in the clinic’s waiting room, which is called the library. Photo: Mona’s private photo
A few months earlier she was at the clinic for a hysteroscopy; an examination of the uterus, and an egg retrieval.
It was the clinic that suggested that they should try with their own eggs first, despite the fact that Mona had been told that it would never work.
If two attempts did not work, the couple would try Russian donor eggs. Mona couldn’t take more hormones and more egg retrievals.
But there was no need for that.
THE HOPE: At this point, the hope was that the fertilized egg would attach and develop further into a fetus. Photo: Mona’s private photo
Today she is 12 weeks pregnant with child number two. Her first born was also helped into the world by the OLGA clinic.
– It is a happy story. We weren’t supposed to make it happen in the first place, and now we might eventually have two children, says Mona.
Halved turnover
For Zaytseff’s clinic, the war has resulted in halving turnover. The main reason why she has not closed the clinic is her 80 employees, she explains.
She understands that many potential customers are having trouble traveling to Russia now.
– If they don’t want it, it will now be possible to travel somewhere else where it is morally, ethically and mentally acceptable for them to go.
CROSSING OWN BORDERS: According to Dr. Olga Zayseff, a number of patients have asked her to open a new clinic in a country other than Russia. Photo: Bjørn Roger Brevik / TV 2
In April, Zaytseff opens a new OLGA clinic in Cyprus. Russian donor eggs are to be sent frozen to the sunny holiday island, known for its close ties to Russia.
– Half of Europe does not allow genetic testing of fertilized eggs, another half does not allow egg donation or embryo donation. So we were left with four possible choices, and decided to try Cyprus, says Zaytseff.
In Cyprus, egg and sperm donation is still anonymous. There it will not be possible for the child to contact the donor as an adult.
– Those who want to be open donors must still choose St. Petersburg, says Zaytseff.
