Posted by Samuel on Fri 12th Dec, 2025 - tori.ng
Suze Lopez went for routine testing before undergoing surgery to remove the tumour and was shocked to learn that her pregnancy test was positive.
Suze Lopez, a 41-year-old mother of one, who believed having another child was impossible because of a 22-pound tumour in her uterus, was stunned to discover she was pregnant with a full-term baby.
The woman went for routine testing before undergoing surgery to remove the tumour and was shocked to learn that her pregnancy test was positive.
“Because of the large ovarian cyst that had been growing for years, it could have been a false positive, even ovarian cancer,” the nurse from Bakersfield, California, said in a statement from Cedars-Sinai. “And I was used to very irregular periods and some abdominal discomfort. I could not believe that after 17 years of praying, and trying, for a second child, that I was actually pregnant.”
Just days after discovering she was pregnant, Lopez began to experience severe abdominal pain. Scans at Cedars-Sinai discovered the full extent of her unusual pregnancy.
“Suze was pregnant, but her uterus was empty, and a giant benign ovarian cyst weighing over 20 pounds was taking up so much space,” John Ozimek, DO, medical director of Labor and Delivery, said. “We then discovered a nearly full-term baby boy in a small space in the abdomen, near the liver, with his butt resting on the uterus. A pregnancy this far outside the uterus that continues to develop is almost unheard of.”
As the baby grew, he pushed the tumor forward.
“It makes sense that she just thought the tumor was getting bigger again, not that she could be pregnant,” Ozimek said.
Lopez was diagnosed with an abdominal ectopic pregnancy — which is when a baby grows outside of the uterus — and has a “high morbidity and mortality” rate, the National Library of Medicine says.
For a baby to make it this far into such a risky pregnancy was “profound,” gynecological oncologist Michael Manuel, MD, of Providence Cedars-Sinai Tarzana Medical Center, said. “In my entire career, I’ve never even heard of one making it this far into the pregnancy.”
It took a team of 30 doctors to safely delivery the baby, remove the cyst — and ensure that both mom and baby were safe.
“As soon as the baby was delivered, Lopez started hemorrhaging badly. We were a specially trained team of obstetric anesthesiologists and well prepared, but it was still intense,” said anesthesiologist Michael Sanchez, MD. “I had already powered up a special machine that delivers blood products fast because every second matters. We used 11 units of blood.”
Ryu Lopez weighted 8 lbs. and had very few health problems.
Although doctors were concerned about his lungs, he was “feisty,” neonatalist Sara Dayanim, MD, said, and within two weeks, “Ryu quickly reached all of the important benchmarks for surviving well. He defied all the odds.”
Suze’s husband, Andrew, said in the statement, “He is our gift. And Ryu and Suze are my miracles … many prayers have been answered.”
And as Suze shared: “I appreciate every little thing. Everything. Every day is a gift and I’m never going to waste it. God gave me this baby so that he could be an example to the world that God exists — that miracles, modern-day miracles, do happen.”