Jennifer Murphy did not see abortion as the only way she could get chemotherapy while being 4-months pregnant with her daughter. She refused to lose her baby and instead, agreed to a special chemotherapy that would allow her to keep her baby.
The Long Island native discovered a mass in her breasts which medics initially thought was a blocked milk duct. On the contrary, a sonogram and a biopsy revealed that she had stage three breast cancer. Doctors advised her to abort her baby so she could go through with a full chemotherapy session. But breast surgeon Dr. Karen Kostroff and medical oncologist Dr. Jane Carleton gave her hope when they proposed an alternate method.
“She needed to be treated properly for her own health, but also very much desired to continue her pregnancy and deliver her child,” Dr. Kostroff told ABC-7 in a press conference.
Dr. Carleton added that Murphy was able to get her chemotherapy treatment without comprising her pregnancy and the health of her baby. Eight weeks after, the happy mom and her husband welcomed their daughter, whom they named “Hope” because of the hope she brought them during the trying them in their lives.
Sadly, shortly after the baby’s birth, Murphy learned that she was BRCA II positive, which means cancer has a chance to recure. Not to risk her life and that of her family, she decided to have a double mastectomy and has been cancer-free since 2018.
“This journey has been crazy. The fact that I’m sitting here today, with hair… and my daughter is 18 months old…it’s a miracle,” Murphy said in the conference.
Looking back at her ordeal, Murphy said that it was indeed a miracle that Hope was born at the same time that she was treated for cancer. God was with them in those grueling days and He never abandoned them. God also helped Murphy remain strong and hopeful for her baby’s sake despite her debilitating disease.