Just when Victoria Raphael started thinking about having a family, the 33-year-old got some shocking news as she was suddenly diagnosed with breast cancer.
In an interview, Raphael told Fox News Digital that she visited her gynecologist for a routine checkup when her doctor noticed a suspicious lump.
The New Yorker was diagnosed with Stage 1A HER2-positive ductal carcinoma in December 2018. Doctors told Raphael her case was treatable, but the cancer was growing fast.
Raphael pursued fertility preservation before starting chemotherapy
She said that it is such a shocking experience when you are going through cancer. She added that what got her was the realization that she couldn't carry her kid or couldn't have her own family. Raphael said that in all the processing of everything that was happening with her at the time, that was probably the most emotional she got about having a breast cancer diagnosis.
She was told she would have time to pursue fertility preservation before starting chemotherapy. Raphael was connected with Dr. Jaime Knopman, a fertility specialist at CCRM in New York. Knopman cares for women who look to preserve their eggs, and she recommends them doing so ahead of their cancer treatment.
Dr. Knopman explained in an interview that fertility preservation after a cancer diagnosis could be the answer to many future moms' prayers. She said that cancer treatments, including radiation, chemotherapy, and some surgeries, can render women infertile by decreasing their egg supply.
Knopman, a breast cancer survivor herself, said that for some women, there is just the time factor because if they cannot try and get pregnant for several months or several years, it could be the turning point for their fertility.
Raphael knew that if she wanted to think about having a family, which she knew for sure was what she wanted to do, she had this opportunity. She said she was grateful that her oncologist offered it to her.
Raphael now a proud mom to baby Ezra
Knopman retrieved 21 eggs from Raphael, and eight were determined to be normal after genetic testing. She said that they had eight embryos on ice, and that was after just one round.
Raphael started chemotherapy a few days after her egg retrieval, and she has since undergone two lumpectomies, a breast augmentation, and eight weeks of radiation. Not only is she 100 percent cancer-free today, but the opportunity to pursue surrogacy with the normal embryos extracted from her was also a success.
The procedure produced a smooth pregnancy, with new mom Raphael welcoming her son, Ezra, on November 3, 2021, according to Yahoo. Raphael can't stop gushing about her newborn son, saying he is a perfect and amazing baby.
