An excited mum-to-be has revealed her horror after she went for a 12-week scan and discovered the sinister truth about her “baby” — which was actually a cancerous growth that cruelly made her body mimic a pregnancy.
Grace Baker-Padden, 23, from Willington in the UK, was surprised when she fell pregnant as she had been on the pill.
But after four tests, her GP confirmed the news. She and partner Joe, 28, began planning for their future with a new family, and Grace even suffered early pregnancy symptoms such as morning sickness.
Her stomach even began to swell “very mildly” as she progressed through the first trimester of her pregnancy.
But at around 10 weeks, she noticed spots of blood in her undies and feared she might be having a miscarriage.
She was taken to the University Hospital of North Durham in February last year for a scan where she and Joe discovered there was, in fact, no baby — but instead a sinister growth in its place.
“From planning this exciting new future as a family to suddenly no baby and my health at risk was awful,” Grace told The Sunday Mirror.
“I just wanted the horrible mass out of me immediately.”
Doctors confirmed it was a molar pregnancy, known as gestational trophoblastic disease.
The condition is caused when a non-fertilised egg implants itself in the uterus, PregnancyBirth&Baby states this would have caused Grace’s hormone levels to soar and appear as if she was expecting.
The condition can affect one in every 600 to 1000 pregnancies, and 1 per cent of them are cancerous, Better Health states. It is 100 per cent curable.
Over the next six months, Grace took chemotherapy medication to fight off her risk of developing cancer, and in September she was admitted for more tests in Sheffield at a unit run by the Teenage Cancer Trust, which helps 13 to 24 year olds.
Just after Christmas, Grace was given the all clear but continued to undergo treatment as a measure of precaution for the next month.
The young couple hope to still have a baby together one day but have been advised to wait for a year so Grace’s hormone levels can stabilise.
Joe has recently run in a half-marathon to raise money for the Teenage Cancer Trust, hoping to raise £2000 ($ 3587) on their Just Giving page.
MUM BIRTHED TUMOUR, NOT BABY
In 2017, a mum from Scotland in the UK revealed she was forced to give birth to a huge tumour on the toilet after her “baby” was diagnosed as cancer.
Lauren Knowles was over the moon when her pregnancy test read positive.
But when the then 27-year-old noticed heavy spotting at seven-and-a-half weeks, doctors sent her for a scan.
The mum from Aberdeen was heartbroken to discover the baby she thought she was carrying was actually a tumour growing in her womb.
She too was diagnosed with a molar pregnancy that tests later revealed was cancerous.
Despite surgeons removing most of the tumour, and Lauren undergoing gruelling chemo and hair loss, it returned and continued to growing at an alarming rate.
Five months later, while she was in hospital and suffering agonising stomach cramps, Lauren got the urge to push.
Moments later she gave birth to her tumour, which was the size of a large pear.
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