After her breast cancer, Marlous (32) became pregnant spontaneously against all expectations. She breastfed with one breast.
“The moment I touch the lump felt I was pregnant. The doctor assumed it was a swollen mammary gland and told me to come back after I had given birth. That pregnancy ended in a miscarriage and because I felt the lump growing, I had my breast checked again. It soon turned out to be wrong. I had a one and a half inch lump and my breast had to be amputated. I was never afraid that it would not end well. But the idea that I might never be able to have children gripped my throat. The chemo would temporarily put me in the menopause and my fertility would decrease. I had just married a lovely man, children were coming and now I had breast cancer † That's why we had IVF done just before I started chemo. Twelve embryos were frozen.
It was a bizarre time:on the one hand I was trying to survive, on the other I was injecting hormones for new life. But the idea that I could still have children also helped me through the treatments. I had a very sweet nurse who said, 'Try to live your life. Don't focus too much on the chemo and remember that many people get well again.' I took that advice to heart. After the treatments I had to be cancer free for two years before the embryos could be transferred. But it didn't get that far. Despite my reduced fertility, I was pregnant a month after finishing the treatments. Spontaneously. I could not believe it. That my body, which had been through so much, could still get pregnant.
Since two weeks we have a beautiful son:Aaron. I still think it's a miracle when I look at him. Even breastfeeding is fine with one breast. Apparently a body is very flexible; my one breast produces milk for two. Afraid that the breast cancer returns, ben
not me. My body can handle a lot, I have that confidence now.”
Santé Magazine, Text Rosa Koelemeijer, Image:Getty Images
