Looking for advice about pregnancy during PR application

[Avadava]

My husband and I have been married for almost 6 years, but due to some health problems, we haven't been able to conceive. My gyno is planning to prescribe some treatment to help with the process (we've already tried the "natural" way for the past year and a half).

As you can see from my timeline, we've been waiting for 9 months and our VO is at 17 months processing time. We're looking at another 8-9 months (if the processing time doesn't go up on next update). Vienna is a VO with a huge backlog at the moment, so according to the trend in the Vienna thread, I don't expect to hear from them sooner than April/May 2015.

According to my GCMS notes, my medical will expire in January 2015 and there are high changes (also according to the trend I saw in the Vienna VO thread) that I will be asked for a re-med rather than the VO extending the medical exam validity.

We would like to start the fertility treatment (which at first it will be some pills, then depending on the result, we could even end up having IUI). The situation is a bit complicated (I won't go into details, but time is of the essence due to a treatment my husband is taking for a pituitary tumor which in the long run, will affect his fertility irreversibly) and that is why we can't afford to postpone it for when we land in Canada.

My questions are:

1. If I get pregnant before January 2015 (when my medical expires), what will happen if I won't be able to comply with a request for re-med from the VO? Do I really have to wait until the birth of the baby to continue with the process of the application or can I ask for an extension of the medical based on this?

2. Do I have to inform the VO of the pregnancy? The child would be a Canadian citizen.

3. Which would be the best course of action in our situation? Postpone the treatment until January 2015 and do the re-med first or go ahead with the treatment (but if the treatment is successful before I get asked for a re-med, it could put our application on hold for the duration of the pregnancy)?

4. If I am (let's say 5 months) pregnant when I receive COPR, can I travel to Canada without any additional changes to the application itself or the COPR?

5. What would you do in this situation? We desperately want a baby but at the same time we want to be over with this immigration process as soon as possible because it has put many aspects of our life on hold.


Thank you for reading.

 

[OhCanadiana]

My husband and I have been married for almost 6 years, but due to some health problems, we haven't been able to conceive. My gyno is planning to prescribe some treatment to help with the process (we've already tried the "natural" way for the past year and a half).

As you can see from my timeline, we've been waiting for 9 months and our VO is at 17 months processing time. We're looking at another 8-9 months (if the processing time doesn't go up on next update). Vienna is a VO with a huge backlog at the moment, so according to the trend in the Vienna thread, I don't expect to hear from them sooner than April/May 2015.

According to my GCMS notes, my medical will expire in January 2015 and there are high changes (also according to the trend I saw in the Vienna VO thread) that I will be asked for a re-med rather than the VO extending the medical exam validity.

We would like to start the fertility treatment (which at first it will be some pills, then depending on the result, we could even end up having IUI). The situation is a bit complicated (I won't go into details, but time is of the essence due to a treatment my husband is taking for a pituitary tumor which in the long run, will affect his fertility irreversibly) and that is why we can't afford to postpone it for when we land in Canada.

My questions are:

1. If I get pregnant before January 2015 (when my medical expires), what will happen if I won't be able to comply with a request for re-med from the VO?

If they don't extend your medical and request a new medical exam, then if you are pregnant and can't comply (with x-ray portion especially), the process will go on hold until after the birth when you complete your medical exam.

Do I really have to wait until the birth of the baby to continue with the process of the application or can I ask for an extension of the medical based on this?

The decision is based on a variety of regional risk factors; I would not expect an extension of the medicals based on pregnancy.

2. Do I have to inform the VO of the pregnancy? The child would be a Canadian citizen.

You need to inform them of the birth (or pregnancy in case of re-meds)

3. Which would be the best course of action in our situation? Postpone the treatment until January 2015 and do the re-med first or go ahead with the treatment (but if the treatment is successful before I get asked for a re-med, it could put our application on hold for the duration of the pregnancy)?

Only you can decide. Another option to consider would be to proactively do another medical exam now which would effectively ensure an extension. You'd have to pay for it but would be certain you won't have a request in January for a re-med.

4. If I am (let's say 5 months) pregnant when I receive COPR, can I travel to Canada without any additional changes to the application itself or the COPR?

Yes, just check the airline travel requirements.

5. What would you do in this situation? We desperately want a baby but at the same time we want to be over with this immigration process as soon as possible because it has put many aspects of our life on hold.

Do what your heart tells you is right for you and your husband

Thank you for reading.

Good luck!

 

[Rob_TO]

One additional suggestion... you could be pro-active and just get the re-medical done now instead of waiting until January. You would then have a medical valid until Sept 2015, just in case they ask for one in January. This would still give you enough time if you expect your PR should be done April/May 2015.

Of course the drawbacks to this are that they may extend your original medical instead in which case the 2nd medical would not have been necessary (but you said this is not common), or if your PR is really delayed and processing goes past next Sept 2015 you would have to even do a 3rd medical (but if you are confident of processing times this should not be likely).

 

[Avadava]

Thank you both for your replies. I called the panel physician, and she said it's not possible to have a medical exam without the request for re-med from the VO.

My husband and I have decided to postpone the treatment until January hoping the VO will ask for re-med and we can go ahead with our plans. Another question popped up though, which I would really appreciate if someone could answer. Does the VO usually ask for re-med the same month when it expires, or is it possible that this too will be delayed even more? If so, could I email them and explain the situation, kindly asking for them to either give me a re-med request or an extension? Do you think they will be considerate and understanding?

Thank you again.

 

[little_apple]

Thank you both for your replies. I called the panel physician, and she said it's not possible to have a medical exam without the request for re-med from the VO.

My husband and I have decided to postpone the treatment until January hoping the VO will ask for re-med and we can go ahead with our plans. Another question popped up though, which I would really appreciate if someone could answer. Does the VO usually ask for re-med the same month when it expires, or is it possible that this too will be delayed even more? If so, could I email them and explain the situation, kindly asking for them to either give me a re-med request or an extension? Do you think they will be considerate and understanding?

Thank you again.

Some people were asked to do a re-med several months after their first one expired

 

[Rob_TO]

Thank you both for your replies. I called the panel physician, and she said it's not possible to have a medical exam without the request for re-med from the VO.

Couldn't you just do another up-front medical exam? Don't even tell the panel physician it's a re-med. Then when the time comes if the VO asks for a re-med, you can simply give them the new medical file number you'll have from the up-front med you've done.

 

[Avadava]

Couldn't you just do another up-front medical exam? Don't even tell the panel physician it's a re-med. Then when the time comes if the VO asks for a re-med, you can simply give them the new medical file number you'll have from the up-front med you've done.

Oh yes, I remember reading here about people who re-did their medical without the VO asking for it. This should work, although, after my first up front medical I was asked for further tests (another x-ray 3 months after the first one and sputum) due to a spot on my lungs, which turned out to be harmless. There is a chance this will happen again maybe. I heard on re-med, they only ask for certain tests (x-ray and blood), not the complete "package".

Now we are uncertain again.

Nevertheless, thank you all for giving me ideas and possible solutions to this problem. We will discuss it with our doctors too (we only talked to my gyno, but we need to make an appointment with my husband's endocrinologist) and maybe they will give us some alternatives. I remember an urologist mentioned to us semen freezing, so we might look into that more, to keep all our options open.