Pictured: Julide Cakiroglu (right) with her partner Benjamin (left)
July 24, 2025
Julide Cakiroglu was preparing for the holidays late last year when she began feeling unwell. What started as lingering cold-like symptoms had escalated into nighttime fevers, unexplained bruising and overwhelming fatigue. Then, while on a cozy anniversary trip with her partner Benjamin a couple of weeks later, the 33-year-old graphic designer found herself unable to walk more than 20 metres without needing to sit down.
“It just kept getting worse and nothing was adding up,” explains Julide. “That’s when we knew something was seriously wrong.”
While the possibility that it could be cancer briefly crossed her mind, she dismissed the thought because she was young and otherwise healthy. Nevertheless, the pair returned home to London after their trip so Julide could seek care.
They arrived at the emergency department at London Health Sciences Centre’s (LHSC) Victoria Hospital the next day, where bloodwork revealed the unimaginable: Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), an aggressive form of blood cancer.
“We instantly started crying. I had never been so scared and knew in that moment this would be the worst day of my life,” says Julide.
While her care team broke the news as gently as they could, nothing could have prepared her for a cancer diagnosis.
“They basically said, ‘We don’t know what caused this, but we do know it’s not your fault and there’s nothing you could have done to prevent this from happening,’" she recalls.
Julide was immediately admitted to hospital, where she spent the next five weeks.
When chemotherapy failed to reduce the number of cancer cells in her body, she began immunotherapy. This put her into remission, but Julide would still need to undergo a stem cell transplant to hopefully keep her cancer from relapsing.
While this gave the couple hope, they found themselves staring down another devastating reality: The total body radiation Julide would need to undergo for the transplant would irreparably harm her ovaries, leaving her unable to conceive biological children – a lifelong dream of theirs.
“Julide’s case was particularly challenging,” says Dr. Jenny Ho, hematologist/oncologist at LHSC. “Our focus was not only on saving her life, but also on helping navigate the toll the treatments would take on her ability to start a family. It’s a reminder that cancer care is never just medical – it's deeply personal – uniquely so for those in Julide’s stage of life.”
A race against time
Determined to preserve her fertility, Julide was referred to Dr. Krista Cameron, a gynecologist and fertility specialist at Omega Fertility Center. Dr. Cameron explained that traditional egg retrieval wouldn’t be possible because Julide’s cancer treatments were affecting the functioning of her reproductive system.
Although she had finished chemotherapy, she was still on medication to prevent bleeding, which also stops the menstrual cycle. Without a cycle, the ovaries don’t receive the hormonal signals needed to mature eggs for collection. This meant that to attempt retrieval, Julide would need to stop the medication and wait for her cycle to return – but there simply wasn't time.
“There were a lot of ‘ifs,’” says Dr. Cameron. “We knew that even if everything lined up perfectly, there was still a good chance none of the eggs would be viable, so we ultimately decided it wasn’t worth the risk.”
However, Dr. Cameron was determined to find another solution for Julide, whose story resonated deeply with her.
A bold new approach
Dr. Cameron immediately began reaching out to colleagues across Canada. At first, the conversations were fruitless. But eventually, she connected with experts in London, Montreal and Toronto, including Dr. Jennia Michaeli and the team at Mount Sinai Fertility, who lead Ontario’s only coordinated ovarian tissue cryopreservation program.
Together, they identified a solution: adapting a technique originally developed to retrieve immature eggs from paediatric patients, which had only recently moved beyond the experimental stage in Canada.
“We were able to draw on recent innovations in paediatric gynecology and propose an alternative: A uniquely performed laparoscopic oophorectomy, which essentially meant we would remove Julide’s ovary using a special technique that would allow it to be kept alive and reimplanted in her later,” explains Dr. Cameron.
Julide and Benjamin were immediately on board, eager to try anything that would keep their dream of becoming parents within reach. Julide’s oncology team was also supportive, giving Dr. Cameron a quick three-day window to complete the procedure between Julide’s immunotherapy sessions.
Dr. Cameron was able to secure a last-minute operating room at St. Joseph’s Health Care London, where Julide was wheeled in for surgery mid-June. Her case is the first time a laparoscopic oophorectomy has been performed on an adult for this purpose in the London region. It required Dr. Cameron to cut backwards, effectively reversing the standard surgical technique in order to preserve the ovary’s blood supply until the final moment.
The ovary was then transported in a temperature-controlled container to Mount Sinai Fertility, where it was sliced into microscopic sections, screened for cancer cells and stored for future use.
“One of the most incredible parts of this experience has been the collaboration,” says Dr. Cameron. "This was a highly coordinated effort involving multiple specialists at different hospitals coming together to rally behind Julide and make something happen over a matter of just a few days.”
A seed of hope
While no patient in Canada has yet to have their ovarian tissue reimplanted, the procedure has led to hundreds of babies being born in other parts of the world, making Dr. Cameron hopeful Julide will one day be as likely as her peers to conceive.
In the meantime, her story has already sparked change. Dr. Cameron has begun working with a team at Mount Sinai Fertility and others at LHSC to establish a formal pathway for ovarian tissue cryopreservation, ensuring more local patients have access to this option in the future.
For Julide, the procedure represents more than just a medical milestone – it’s a symbol of faith and resilience when they’re needed most.
“Dr. Cameron helped us plant a seed of hope during a very dark time,” she says. “The idea that we might still have a chance to start a family someday is one of the most wonderful gifts we could ever be given.”