Anyone who has ever been pregnant knows that morning sickness is awful. But because we’ve been told that, we often dismiss it as par for the course. The truth, however, is that extreme cases exist, and they should be assessed accordingly. Let 29-year-old Sophia Yasin’s story be proof.
Yasin, from Middlesbrough, England, was on top of the world, planning for her new baby with her husband, according to SWNS. The two just purchased a home and were getting ready to fill it with family. It was around that time her symptoms felt disproportionately unpleasant.
“I was [vomiting] all day, every few hours. I was getting night sweats and itchiness through the night. I was very uncomfortable,” she told the outlet. “Everyone told me it was very normal in the first trimester and should ease up,” she added. “I did have some worry, but I thought it was normal for my first pregnancy.”
Instead, it was anything but ‘normal.’
The young woman collapsed at work at the beginning of her second trimester and was rushed to the hospital. Although doctors first thought she had pneumonia, a biopsy and scans revealed she had a large tumor over her heart. They revealed she had been battling cancer: premediastinal large B-cell non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, which affects the lymphatic system.
Sadly, doctors informed her that the tumor was growing rapidly and she had to begin chemotherapy to survive.
“I remember saying, ‘What does this mean for the baby?’ I remember being numb,” Sophia recalled.
Doctors warned her that treatment could harm or kill the baby, so the couple came to the heartbreaking decision to terminate the pregnancy.
Though heartbroken, Yasin believes the pregnancy actually saved her. “Because I was pregnant, I was prioritized [within the health care system]. In a way, because I was pregnant, they found the cancer in time,” she told SWNS.
Luckily, in January 2025, she went into remission. Doctors have advised her to wait to try again to get pregnant, as there is a two-year window the cancer is more likely to return.
The devastated parents have not forgotten about the baby who saved her.
Unilad reported that she was induced at 15 weeks and gave birth to a little girl, whom they named Kainaat Pearl.
“The diagnosis, treatment, and loss have left deep emotional and physical scars,” she shared. “Even now, in remission, the effects of cancer are still with me, from the toll it’s taken on my body to the grief I carry daily.”
Yasmin thoughtfully set up a GoFundMe account to support Lymphoma Action, which offers support to afflicted patients.
“Every step we take is for Kainaat, for those still fighting, and for those we’ve lost,” she wrote on the fundraiser. “If you’re able to, please donate and help make a difference.”
