A 41-year-old nurse in Bakersfield, California, delivered a healthy baby after the infant grew inside a 22-pound ovarian cyst, a condition occurring in fewer than 1 in 30,000 pregnancies.
The Unusual Case
Suze Lopez had been monitoring a large ovarian cyst since her 20s. The cyst grew to 22 pounds (10 kilograms) and, unbeknownst to her, had been carrying a nearly full-term fetus in an amniotic sac hidden near her liver. Lopez did not experience typical pregnancy symptoms such as morning sickness or fetal kicks, and she only realized she was pregnant when a CT scan for cyst removal returned a positive pregnancy test.
Medical Response
Upon admission to Cedars-Sinai, doctors stabilized Lopez’s dangerously high blood pressure and performed an ultrasound and MRI. The scans revealed an empty uterus and a fetus implanted on the sidewall of the pelvis, “not directly invading any organs,” Dr. John Ozimek, medical director of labor and delivery, explained. “It looked like it was mostly implanted on the sidewall of the pelvis, which is also very dangerous but more manageable than being implanted in the liver.”
On Aug. 18, a surgical team delivered the 8-pound (3.6-kilogram) baby while Lopez was under full anesthesia. The cyst was removed during the same operation. Lopez lost nearly all of her blood, but the team controlled the bleeding and administered transfusions.
Andrew Lopez recounted the experience: “The whole time, I might have seemed calm on the outside, but I was doing nothing but praying on the inside,” he said. “It was just something that scared me half to death, knowing that at any point I could lose my wife or my child.”
Dr. Cara Heuser, a maternal-fetal specialist not involved with the case, noted that almost all ectopic pregnancies implanting outside the uterus “go on to rupture and hemorrhage if not removed,” most commonly in the fallopian tubes.
Aftermath and Family
Both Lopez and her son recovered well. Dr. Ozimek described the outcome as “really, really remarkable.” Lopez reflected on the miracle: “I do believe in miracles,” she said, looking down at her baby. “God gave us this gift – the best gift ever.”
The infant, named Ryu after a baseball player and a Street Fighter character, is healthy and thriving. Lopez and her husband enjoy watching him interact with his 18-year-old sister, Kaila, and say he completes their family.
A 2023 medical journal article from Ethiopia highlighted that fetal mortality in abdominal pregnancies can reach 90%, with birth defects occurring in about 1 in 5 surviving babies.
Key Takeaways
- A 22-pound ovarian cyst concealed a full-term fetus, an event seen in less than 1 in 30,000 pregnancies.
- The baby was delivered successfully on Aug. 18, with the cyst removed in the same surgery.
- Both mother and child are healthy, underscoring the rarity and medical significance of the case.
Lopez’s story reminds us of the extraordinary possibilities within human biology and the critical role of timely medical intervention.
