A new clinic in Toronto is offering to freeze women's eggs not because of health issues but to try to cheat the biological clock.

Dr. Essam Michael's "Freeze Your Clock" service claims to be the first in Canada to freeze eggs and sperm as a long-term service for healthy people who want to postpone having children without using an egg donor. Removing eggs has mainly been offered to women facing cancer treatments that threaten fertility.

In theory, a 40-year-old woman has a better chance of conceiving with her younger, frozen eggs, said Michael, a fertility doctor at ESRM Biotech in Mississauga. Delayed pregnancy is the number one cause of infertility.

"I don't have any doubts," said Crystal Houser, a 20-year-old student who said she is seriously considering the service. "It's pretty much a backup plan."

So far, Michael is interviewing potential clients. He said he would try to dissuade Houser because she is young.

Prospective clients must meet with a psychologist for counselling before eggs are removed in an invasive and expensive procedure.

It involves 10 to 12 days of fertility treatments including injections of follicle stimulating hormone to produce multiple eggs, which are then surgically removed, frozen and stored.

The service costs $5,000 up front and then $300 a year for storage. When a woman is ready to become pregnant, the eggs are thawed, fertilized, and the embryo is transferred. 

Nurse Renée Hegi, 32, has a two-year-old son and wants more children, but not until she meets the right partner, she said.

Asked if the service plays on a culture of fear, Hegi answered, "Well, of course it does play to that to a certain extent. But it's reality, too. Working in the field myself, I've seen a lot of infertility, and you know it's so preventable."

The service raises concerns for Dr. Ellen Greenblatt, a fertility expert at Toronto's Mount Sinai Hospital.

"The live birth rate with this technology is still in the range of three to four per cent," said Greenblatt. "So I think one has to be very careful in offering these promises."

Ethical issues include the trend towards a generation of older parents and lack of regulations for the egg freezing business.

Health Canada is reviewing the science and safety surrounding egg freezing. If it the procedure is deemed risky, the department has the power to restrict the number of clinics licensed to perform the procedure.