‘It’s a True Miracle’: Woman Who Survived Rare Cancer Becomes Mom to Twins – Her Story Moves Everyone

There is a special kind of breast cancer that threatens the fertility of numerous young women. It also proves to be difficult to treat. However, thanks to quick intervention and modern health care, some kind of miracle took place when one patient survived what seemed impossible to even experienced healthcare workers.

Shelly Battista only says it’s a true miracle when something truly amazing happens. When the intense treatment removed both her breasts and ovaries, she was informed that she would never give birth to children naturally. She somehow managed to give birth to twins despite the possible challenges.

Shelly’s journey is focused on a type of cancer that is hard to treat and provides no certain outcomes. Still, advances in medicine and quick decisions taken during a hard time allow her to live with three happy kids.

Triple-Negative Breast Cancer and the Effect It Has on Fertility

Among these experiences in their thirties, a breast cancer diagnosis can be serious because it endangers a woman’s health and slowly erodes her capacity for reproduction.

Triple-negative breast cancer, known as TNBC, affects only a few people and tends to be quite aggressive. It happens in only about 10 percent of breast cancer cases but is responsible for almost half of the diagnosed cancer in women under the age of 35. TNBC does not have the receptors that most medicines are designed to stop in cancer cells.

If those gateways do not open, chemotherapy is the only medication that can be used successfully. Even though it is required at times, chemotherapy is tough. It can swiftly harm the ovaries in women who are capable of reproduction, thus cutting down on their hormone making and eggs.

For a number of people, this causes temporary menopause, whereas for others, it means they will never be able to have children. The effect is more than just physical, since patients are limited in their future choices right after the diagnosis.

TNBC is more complicated since it is connected with hereditary gene mutations, especially BRCA1 and BRCA2. As a result of these changes, there is a bigger chance of a person getting breast cancer and a much higher risk of ovarian cancer as well.

Sometimes, if the patient is found to be positive, the doctor may advise a procedure to cut out the ovaries and fallopian tubes to reduce the chances of a future pregnancy. Still, during this particular time, fertility can be maintained under very special circumstances.

Provided that it is caught in time and the patient is healthy enough, doctors will use hormones to gather the oocytes for freezing. An embryo may be made from the partner’s sperm or with donor sperm instead. First, this process must be finished before chemotherapy is given. In a lot of cases, treatment begins just days after a cancer diagnosis.

Usually, fertility preservation requires hormone shots every day, ultrasounds, checking blood levels, collecting the eggs, and freezing the embryos. Yet, when dealing with cancer, that strong plan is turned into a quick dash of decisions.

If chemotherapy is delayed, the chances of medical problems increase. If people don’t save sperm, they might not get the option to have children through technology later. Balancing the choices for treatment has become a major problem in today’s cancer medicine.

Shelly had to deal with the dilemma even though she only had a hunch about her diagnosis at the time. At the age of 34, she was still learning to be a mother and had to make a decision no new parent should ever face: should she work to save her own life, or first try to ensure that her newborn had the chance to have the family she always wished for?

A red light is ignored, and a fast decision is made.

Shelly was only getting back into her usual routine as a working mom when things suddenly happened. It was the month of February, and as she was at work pumping, she found a lump in her breast. Since clogged ducts are frequent for nursing women, she called it that and kept going with her trip.

Even though the infection had gone, the lump remained. As more weeks went by, the early intervention opportunity got narrower. Shelly’s family did not have any history of breast cancer. Although scientists cannot find any, no genetic factors have been tied to this disease. Since the COVID-19 pandemic stopped her regular check-ups, her evaluation got put on hold.

Three months had to pass from the first lump she felt before she was properly diagnosed in the next May with triple-negative breast cancer. Eva was busy with a six-month-old when she was brought up against a type of cancer known for its quick growth and strong symptoms. Robert Battista, her husband, remembered how they were still starting out in life when it happened. Then the news comes that is really surprising.

It was determined after a few days that Shelly had genetic changes that heightened her possibilities of ovarian cancer. Due to the finding, she needed treatments aside from just chemotherapy. It would eventually involve taking out both breasts and also the ovaries and fallopian tubes, which would prevent her from conceiving without medical help.

Still, before all that happened, there was one more thing she had to try if she hadn’t waited too long. Shelly was sent to Dr. Kara Goldman, a reproductive endocrinologist who works at Northwestern Medicine. Since the doctor found out right away, Shelly started hormone injections just two days after she was diagnosed.

In the following two weeks, Monica went through the entire fertility preservation cycle by having regular shots, blood tests, and ultrasound scans to aid her ovaries. Working on the project was hard on both my body and my emotions. She was getting ready for cancer treatment as she worried about her future being lost.

After the two weeks were over, eight embryos were removed by the doctors and frozen. They would not be put into practice at first. They offered her one last chance before she started the treatments that would stop her from having kids naturally.

The end of the ability to have children naturally may arise during chemotherapy or after surgery.
As soon as Shelly’s fertility preservation cycle had finished, the doctors started her treatment. The doctors started with 12 rounds of chemotherapy designed to slow the cancer and make her health deteriorate after the recent birth of her child.

With time, preparations for surgery were put in place. Since triple-negative breast cancer tends to be aggressive, the next step was a double mastectomy, which is usual for patients with BRCA gene mutations too. Shelly made her decision quickly without hesitation. The main goal was to stay alive.

But the strong emotions regarding her breasts, strength, and future ability to have children were always with her as well. The treatment helped her cancer, but doctors were still worried she had a high risk of ovarian cancer due to her genes.

To ensure her long happiness, the doctors said she needed a bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy, meaning the removal of both of her ovaries and fallopian tubes. Since Shelly’s treatment, she is unable to conceive a child because her reproductive organs had been removed.

Although her uterus stayed, she had no ovaries left after the doctors stimulated them with hormones. Still, she did all she could to make sure what was possible was saved. The embryos had not yet turned into anything else. She did not have any signs of cancer.

Pregnancy After Having Lost Ovaries

After a year of completing her treatments, Shelly was prepared to strike out again in life. Dr. Goldman explained to Shelly that the ovary and the uterus do not rely on each other at all when it comes to their functions. Under these circumstances, using hormones can make the body ready for fertilization and implantation.

Since she was missing ovaries to make the correct hormones, Dr. Goldman added, we could give her the necessary hormones for her to get pregnant.

There were no successes during the first two tries to insert the embryos. Each time something didn’t work out, I was disappointed, but I did not give up. When they tried again for the third time, Dr. Goldman directly contacted Shelly. There was an embryo growing inside the uterus. Her pregnancy was the reason for the tragedy. Both of us were so happy and full of emotions that we were crying and shouting, Shelly said.

For him, the announcement offered even more than a positive sign. It was truly a great experience. She was a healthy mom-to-be, and I thought it would be a normal birth at that stage,” he remarked. But what happened next was unexpected for them.

The Incredible Journey of Twins and the Moment It All Payed off
After the transfer of her embryo, Shelly had a regular ultrasound to check everything was going as planned. The embryo chosen was taken from the eight that were frozen up ahead of her chemotherapy. The test showed something surprising: both people were identical twins.

The embryo split into two after implantation, a thing that only occurs in approximately one percent of all cases according to Dr. Goldman. There was nothing done to boost the chances of the couple having twins. This was done without being planned.

In spite of what happened in the past, her pregnancy was uneventful. The hormone support was applied precisely and it helped her uterus thrive. No complications. No setbacks. Spent all the time just waiting and counting down the days. It was arranged that Shelly would be induced at Northwestern Medicine Prentice Women’s Hospital.

Doctors decided to hold the test on May 2, 2022, exactly two years after she’d finished treatment. The medical personnel did not predict that event would occur. The new parents felt this as an important achievement in their own lives. Nina and Margot were born to the parents on that day.

After receiving the breast cancer diagnosis, experiencing chemotherapy, and losing her ovaries, Shelly managed to have the three children she wanted, stated Dr. Goldman. Thanks to quick preservation of the embryo, the treatment could proceed and the couple now have two lovely daughters.

Shelly expressed it was truly amazing. Both babies are now two years past their cancer experience. I am overwhelmed with good feelings. Shelly took part in an interview on the “Today Show” some months after the twins were born, discussing her experiences after cancer diagnosis and motherhood.

She said her day-to-day life was full of laughing, crying, and taking care of laundry. Even though everything is confusing, it works out fine. Life for the couple included looking after their three kids Emelia, Nina, and Margot. Folks made a lot of comments about their family’s adventure on social media.

People showed their support and feelings by commenting all over Instagram. “Congrats! This is a beautiful story. You are a very strong mother, one person shared.

She said her life was full of moments to laugh over and to shed tears about with lots of laundry to do. Everything in her life seems crazy, but it feels just right. Back then, she and Robert were getting used to having three daughters, Emelia, Nina, and Margot. Many people reacted positively online to what happened in the life of this family.