Full Breakdown
Canadian Women Turn to Mexican Clinic Amid Long Waits for Endometriosis Care
By Drooid · · How we work
Core Event: Canadians Seek Surgery in Tijuana
Noelle Menu, a 37-year-old supply-chain systems adviser, and Vanessa Papiernik, a 42-year-old veterinarian, both endured decades of pain before traveling to EndoGlobal in Tijuana, Mexico. Menu left Canada after a “30- to 40-month” specialist wait and a looming emergency-surgery risk; she and her husband financed a $35,000 private-care package that included airfare, a multi-day hotel stay and the procedure itself. Papiernik, after a 30-year diagnostic odyssey that included a colon-cancer scare, faced a one-year specialist wait and another year for surgery in Canada, prompting her to book the same Mexican centre. Both women joined more than 30 other Canadians receiving treatment at EndoGlobal during the same period.
Background & Context
Endometriosis affects roughly one-in-ten women in Canada. A November 2025 House of Commons health-committee report described the national system’s performance as “poor,” citing average five-year diagnostic delays and specialist waits of six to 18 months, with surgical queues extending up to 24 months.
Data & Statistics
- Prevalence: 10 % of Canadian women.
- Economic impact: $2.5 billion in lost productivity annually.
- Diagnostic timeline: average five-year wait; some patients wait up to 20 years.
- Specialist access: 6–18 months to see a specialist; up to 24 months for surgery.
- Private-care cost for Mexican treatment: approximately $35,000 per patient.
- Federal research funding: $4.9 million invested by the Canadian Institute of Health Research (2020-2025).
Official Statements & Responses
Dr. Dr. Nicholas Leyland, president of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada, described the systemic delays as a form of discrimination against women and called for a multidisciplinary care model. In response, the federal government announced that Statistics Canada will collect endometriosis-related data from late September through January 2027, and the Canadian Institute of Health Research has allocated $4.9 million to endometriosis research.
Verbatim Quotes
- “As a doctor, if you’re not trained in something, you’re not going to be able to diagnose it. It could be poking your eye, but if you are not trained to see it, you’re not going to see it,” — Dr. Jorge Zavala, EndoGlobal co-founder
- “I was purely in survival mode,” — Vanessa Papiernik, veterinarian
- “We need to really come face to face with the fact that this is, to some extent, it’s discrimination against women,” — Dr. Nicholas Leyland, president of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada
- “For me to hear that I could have been in emergency surgery and my specialist appointment [in Canada] was a 30- to 40-month wait…. It makes me so mad,” — Noelle Menu, supply-chain systems adviser
- “I was just so grateful that they were able to find everything,” — Noelle Menu, supply-chain systems adviser