Pregnant Mom Diagnosed With Cancer Rejects Abortion, After Birth Now She’s Cancer Free

International   |   Micaiah Bilger   |   Nov 10, 2020   |   6:39PM   |   Washington, DC

A brave young mother who sacrificed herself for her unborn baby is cancer-free after she delayed chemotherapy during her pregnancy.

The British news outlet Chad reports Ellie Whittaker, 21, of Bolsover, England, refused to abort her unborn daughter after she was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma in October 2019.

Whittaker said her doctors encouraged her to consider an abortion so she could begin chemotherapy, but she refused to sacrifice her daughter Connie’s life.

“There was no chance on this planet I was going to abort my baby,” she said. “I pushed the cancer as far from my mind and focused on Connie. I couldn’t wait to be a mum.”

In the summer of 2019, Whittaker said she began to feel tired constantly throughout the day. She initially attributed the problem to stress and grief over the death of a grandparent, but when she noticed a lump on her neck, she scheduled an appointment with her doctor, according to the report.

Click here to sign up for pro-life news alerts from LifeNews.com

After undergoing tests – and learning she was pregnant, Whittaker said she received the devastating news that she had stage two Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. That was October 2019.

“I didn’t have any other symptoms apart from being tired – I couldn’t believe it,” she said. “The doctor advised I have an abortion because cancer treatment could cause problems for the baby. There was no way I was going to give her up so I chose to delay it.”

Whittaker said she had lost another baby to miscarriage and did not want to lose another child. Instead, she said she decided to delay chemotherapy until after she gave birth so that her unborn daughter would not be harmed.

Connie was born a healthy baby on March 18, 2020, according to the report.

However, Whittaker soon learned that her cancer had progressed to stage three. Through the spring and summer, Whittaker said she underwent 12 chemotherapy treatments. Last month, she said she learned that she is cancer-free.

“I lived with it for so long it’s weird that it’s finally gone – I can’t believe it,” Whittaker said. “I don’t regret my decision and I’d make the same one again given the choice.”

Her story of courage and self sacrifice is a beautiful one, and there are many others like it. LifeNews has reported numerous stories about mothers who chose life for their unborn babies after being diagnosed with cancer. Most of the mothers survived the cancer, while a few died sacrificing their lives for their babies.

Research provides growing hope for mothers in these difficult situations. In 2012, a collection of stories from The Lancet demonstrated that pregnant women do not need to have an abortion to get treatment for cancer. Similarly, a 2015 study in the New England Journal of Medicine found chemotherapy may not impair unborn babies’ general development.