For her 25th birthday this year, Shania Bhopa gave a gift to her future self.
The PhD student from Hamilton decided to freeze her eggs as an “insurance policy” to have a baby in the future as she focuses on her career right now.
Bhopa’s goal is to have her first child a decade from now, around the age of 35.
“A weight’s been lifted off my shoulder,” said Bhopa, who underwent the egg-freezing procedure at Markham Fertility Centre last month.
“I’ve always wanted to be a mum, and I think that’s one of my purposes in life and … I know that’s not my timing right now,” she told Global News in an interview.
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And in 2021, close to one-quarter (24 per cent) of Canadians aged 15 to 49 changed their fertility plans because of the pandemic, according to Statistics Canada.
Canada is already considered a “late” childbearing nation and its fertility rate, which is an estimate of the average number of live births a female can be expected to have in her lifetime, has dipped over the last decade.
“We have been seeing really since the pandemic started, an increase in the number of women or people with ovaries who are accessing fertility preservation in order to secure their future fertility,” said Carolynn Dubé, executive director with Fertility Matters Canada.
Dubé said this helps alleviate the pressure of a “ticking clock” for women who want to put off starting a family to focus on their professional life.
“It gives them a greater chance to bring home a baby because their eggs have been frozen … at a younger age,” she said.
Several years ago, big tech companies like Google, Apple and Facebook began paying for female employees to freeze their eggs as a way to attract more young women to their staff.
It’s a growing trend with some companies in Canada now also offering the freezing of eggs or sperm, as part of an expanded suite of fertility and family planning benefits.
Dubé said there is now a great awareness with more women openly having conservations online about their family planning options.
“We’re seeing more and more people through social media sharing, and I feel that this younger generation of women especially are really actively seeking information about their health, their reproductive health.”
What is egg freezing?
Women’s fertility starts to decline after the age of 30 and more significantly when they cross 35.
That is why egg freezing is a route many take, but it comes with a heavy price – roughly $10,000 or more in Canada for as many eggs as can be retrieved. This includes costs for the medication and procedure and an annual storage fee.
The egg-freezing procedure is similar to the IVF treatment in that the eggs are removed from a woman’s body.
After screening, medication is given to stimulate the ovaries so they produce eggs – a process that can take up to two weeks, said Dr. Togas Tulandi, professor and chair of obstetrics and gynecology at McGill University in Montreal.
After stimulation, an ultrasound-guided procedure takes the eggs out for freezing and storing.
Tulandi said the best age to preserve eggs is in the 20s and early 30s.
The longer you postpone, the less worthwhile it becomes.
“We have requests of patients who want to … preserve the eggs at a later age, but the problem is not just the number of eggs, but the quality of egg is decreased when you are close to 40 or even after 40 especially,” he said.
Egg freezing is also an “amazing medical option” for young cancer patients who need to undergo treatment that could affect future fertility, Dubé adds.
Are there any risks?
For Bhopa, who documented her 11-day egg-freezing journey on social media, the whole process was a “roller-coaster” ride, she says.
The daily medication injections made her body “really sore” and she said her ovaries felt like “going from limes to grapefruits” in size in her mid-section.
“It’s such a strange sensation,” Bhopa said.
@wellbyshaniaReplying to @sara am i too young to be freezing my eggs?whats the prime age range? Lets see what Dr. Garcia has to say #eggfreezingjourney#eggfreezing Egg freezing Egg freezing journey Freezing my eggs Doctor interview Fertility Womenshealth Womens health
While egg freezing is considered a safe and effective process, some women may experience mild symptoms like bloating and headaches, said Dubé.
The procedure can also result in ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome, when the ovaries become enlarged and cysts are formed due to the medication, said Tulandi.
But this gets better over time and no surgery is needed, he added.
Symptoms of ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome include fatigue, nausea, headaches, abdominal pain, breast tenderness and irritability, according to an article in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.
There is no expiry date for the frozen eggs, which remain at the same age they were originally stored, but many patients don’t come back to use them.
Shania Bhopa said her egg-freezing process took 11 days that felt like a ‘roller-coaster.’.
Photo supplied
Bhopa says when the time comes, she will try having a baby naturally for a couple of months before she goes back to the clinic to use her frozen eggs.
“Knowing that my likelihood, especially with my career goals, (that) I can have a happy, healthy baby potentially closer to 35, so that is very refreshing.”
OTTAWA – The New Democrats confirmed Thursday they won’t help Pierre Poilievre’s Conservatives topple the government next week, and intend to join the Bloc Québécois in blocking the Tories’ non-confidence motion.
The planned votes from the Bloc and the New Democrats eliminate the possibility of a snap election, buying the Liberals more time to govern after a raucous start to the fall sitting of Parliament.
Poilievre issued a challenge to NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh earlier this week when he announced he will put forward a motion that simply states that the House has no confidence in the government or the prime minister.
If it were to pass, it would likely mean Canadians would be heading to the polls, but Singh said Thursday he’s not going to let Poilievre tell him what to do.
Voting against the Conservative motion doesn’t mean the NDP support the Liberals, said Singh, who pulled out of his political pact with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau a few weeks ago.
“I stand by my words, Trudeau has let you down,” Singh said in the foyer outside of the House of Commons Thursday.
“Trudeau has let you down and does not deserve another chance.”
Canadians will have to make that choice at the ballot box, Singh said, but he will make a decision about whether to help trigger that election on a vote-by-vote basis in the House.
The Conservatives mocked the NDP during Question Period for saying they had “ripped up” the deal to support the Liberals, despite plans to vote to keep them in power.
Poilievre accused Singh of pretending to pull out of the deal to sway voters in a federal byelection in Winnipeg, where the NDP was defending its long-held seat against the Conservatives.
“Once the votes were counted, he betrayed them again. He’s a fake, a phoney and fraud. How can anyone ever believe what the sellout NDP leader says in the future?” Poilievre said during Question Period Thursday afternoon.
At some point after those comments, Singh stepped out from behind his desk in the House and a two-minute shouting match ensued between the two leaders and their MPs before the Speaker intervened.
Outside the House, Poilievre said he plans to put forward another non-confidence motion at the next opportunity.
“We want a carbon-tax election as soon as possible, so that we can axe Trudeau’s tax before he quadruples it to 61 cents a litre,” he said.
Liberal House leader Karina Gould says there is much work the government still needs to do, and that Singh has realized the consequences of potentially bringing down the government. She refused to take questions about whether her government will negotiate with opposition parties to ensure their support in future confidence motions.
Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet hasn’t ruled out voting no-confidence in the government the next time a motion is tabled.
“I never support Liberals. Help me God, I go against the Conservatives on a vote that is only about Pierre Poilievre and his huge ambition for himself,” Blanchet said Thursday.
“I support the interests of Quebecers, if those interests are also good for Canadians.”
A Bloc bill to increase pension cheques for seniors aged 65 to 74 is now at “the very centre of the survival of this government,” he said.
The Bloc needs a recommendation from a government minister to OK the cost and get the bill through the House.
The Bloc also wants to see more protections for supply management in the food sector in Canada and Quebec.
If the Liberals can’t deliver on those two things, they will fall, Blanchet said.
“This is what we call power,” he said.
Treasury Board President Anita Anand wouldn’t say whether the government would be willing to swallow the financial implications of the Bloc’s demands.
“We are focused at Treasury Board on ensuring prudent fiscal management,” she said Thursday.
“And at this time, our immediate focus is implementing the measures in budget 2024 that were announced earlier this year.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.
OTTAWA – Treasury Board President Anita Anand has been sworn in as federal transport minister at a ceremony at Rideau Hall, taking over a portfolio left vacant after Pablo Rodriguez resigned from cabinet and the Liberal caucus on Thursday.
Anand thanked Rodriguez for his contributions to the government and the country, saying she’s grateful for his guidance and friendship.
She sidestepped a question about the message it sends to have him leave the federal Liberal fold.
“That is a decision that he made independently, and I wish him well,” she said.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was not present for the swearing-in ceremony, nor were any other members of the Liberal government.
The shakeup in cabinet comes just days after the Liberals lost a key seat in a Montreal byelection to the Bloc Québécois and amid renewed calls for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to step down and make way for a new leader.
Anand said she is not actively seeking leadership of the party, saying she is focused on her roles as minister and as MP.
“My view is that we are a team, and we are a team that has to keep delivering for our country,” she said.
The minority Liberal government is in a more challenging position in the House of Commons after the NDP ended a supply-and-confidence deal that provided parliamentary stability for more than two years.
Non-confidence votes are guaranteed to come from the Opposition Conservatives, who are eager to bring the government down.
On Thursday morning, Rodriguez made a symbolic walk over the Alexandra Bridge from Parliament Hill to Gatineau, Que., where he formally announced his plans to run for the Quebec Liberal party leadership.
He said he will now sit as an Independent member of Parliament, which will allow him to focus on his own priorities.
“I was defending the priorities of the government, and I did it in a very loyal way,” he said.
“It’s normal and it’s what I had to do. But now it’s more about my vision, the vision of the team that I’m building.”
Rodriguez said he will stay on as an MP until the Quebec Liberal leadership campaign officially launches in January.
He said that will “avoid a costly byelection a few weeks, or months, before a general election.”
The next federal election must be held by October 2025.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said he will try to topple the government sooner than that, beginning with a non-confidence motion that is set to be debated Sept. 24 and voted on Sept. 25.
Poilievre has called on the NDP and the Bloc Québécois to support him, but both Jagmeet Singh and Yves-François Blanchet have said they will not support the Conservatives.
Rodriguez said he doesn’t want a federal election right away and will vote against the non-confidence motion.
As for how he would vote on other matters before the House of Commons, “it would depend on the votes.”
Public Services and Procurement Minister Jean-Yves Duclos will become the government’s new Quebec lieutenant, a non-cabinet role Rodriguez held since 2019.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.
— With files from Nojoud Al Mallees and Dylan Robertson
