A couple from Louisiana, in the United States, gave birth last May to a little girl who had a huge tumor on her coccyx, reports the magazine People.
Texas Children’s Hospital
In September 2023, Kristin and Jacob Tyler were euphoric when they learned they were expecting a second child.
In February 2024, when Kristin was 20 weeks pregnant, a doctor who analyzed the mother’s ultrasound revealed that their baby had spina bifida, a disease that affects the spine.
The next day, the diagnosis changed; the couple then learned that their unborn child suffered from sacrococcygeal teratoma, a rare type of tumor that can affect some newborns.
Texas Children’s Hospital
The parents therefore went to consult a fetal medicine specialist who explained to them that this tumor affects approximately one in 20,000 newborns, that it is more present in girls than in boys and that it is usually benign.
However, the cause of this tumor is not known to doctors.
Kristin Tyler subsequently had to be monitored very frequently to monitor the progress of her baby’s tumor. On the ultrasounds, the mass was increasingly visible.
“I was really scared because of the many medical appointments and what I saw in the ultrasound images,” says the mother.
On May 21, at 34 weeks pregnant, Kristin gave birth to little Adalida by cesarean section. The baby weighed a little more than 6 pounds, while the tumor that accompanied him weighed 4 pounds.
Texas Children’s Hospital
The mass measured 16 centimeters in diameter; it was almost the same size as a watermelon.
“We had to be very careful during the birth. That’s why we did a cesarean section. We had to avoid any shock or tearing of the tumor, because with a mass of this size, it can tear and start to bleed, which can cause the baby to become very ill after birth,” explains the doctor in charge. of childbirth.
Two days after Adalida’s birth, doctors successfully removed the tumor. The little girl remained in the hospital for a few weeks, but her parents were able to bring her home on June 29, the expected due date.
Kristin Tyler
“He’s a good, happy baby. She is healthy, everything is fine and she has recovered,” says the mother.
“We call him our miracle baby, our angel baby,” she adds.
