In a rare medical miracle, a baby in the UK was "born twice." At 20 weeks pregnant, teacher Lucy Isaac from Oxford underwent a 5-hour operation to remove ovarian cancer, during which surgeons temporarily removed her womb, containing her son. After the cancer treatment, Rafferty Isaac was returned to the womb and was delivered at full term, weighing 6lb 5oz in late January, Daily Mail reported.
Lucy and Rafferty recently visited the John Radcliffe Hospital weeks after the surgery to thank surgeon Soleymani Majd. He described the experience as rare and emotional, feeling a sense of familiarity with the baby.
Notably, when Lucy, 32, was 12 weeks pregnant, she received a shocking ovarian cancer diagnosis after a routine ultrasound. Doctors at the John Radcliffe hospital believed delaying treatment until after birth would allow the cancer to spread, putting her life at risk. Due to the advanced stage of her pregnancy, standard keyhole surgery wasn't possible, prompting doctors to explore alternative options.
A team led by Dr Soleymani Majd then proposed a rare and complex procedure to remove the cancerous cells while keeping the unborn child, Rafferty, in the womb during the surgery. This high-risk operation, performed only a handful of times globally, involved temporarily removing Lucy's womb, containing Rafferty to access and treat the cancer. Despite the risks, Lucy and her husband Adam trusted the medical team and underwent the procedure in October.
The procedure was Dr Majd's most complex case due to the advanced stage of Lucy's tumours. However, the surgery was successful, and Rafferty was safely delivered in late January. The birth was particularly emotional for the family, as Adam had undergone a kidney transplant in 2022.
Adam said, "To finally hold Rafferty in our arms after everything we have been through was the most amazing moment."
A team of 15 medical professionals supported Dr Majd during the procedure, which involved temporarily removing Lucy's womb while keeping it connected to vital blood vessels and tissues to ensure Rafferty's safety.
During the surgery, Lucy's womb, containing Rafferty, was carefully wrapped in a warm saline pack to maintain a safe temperature and monitored closely by two medics. The pack was replaced every 20 minutes to prevent Rafferty's temperature from dropping. The medical team removed a tumour sample for examination, which revealed a grade two cancer. After removing the cancerous tissue, the womb was gently returned to its original position, and Lucy's abdomen was stitched back up.
The womb was outside Lucy's body for two hours, longer than Dr Majd's previous procedures. Lucy felt "incredibly lucky" to have been diagnosed and treated despite having no symptoms. Ovarian cancer affects 7,000 women in the UK annually, with two-thirds diagnosed late, and over 4,000 deaths per year.
