At 56 years old, the woman found out she was pregnant. No one could even imagine that at such an age a woman could hear news about pregnancy. But several tests in a row showed the same thing — two bright lines. She cried from happiness and couldn’t believe what was happening.
“This is a miracle,” she thought.
All her life she had dreamed of having a child, but fate had decided otherwise: many years of infertility, disappointment, doctors who gave up and said: “Accept it.” And then suddenly — hope.
Her belly grew, her movements became heavier. Her relatives looked at her with caution: doctors warned that giving birth at her age was a risk. But she waved it off:
— I always wanted to become a mother. And now I finally have a chance.
Nine months flew by like a single moment for her. Every day she talked to her future baby, stroked her belly, imagined how she would hold the child in her arms.
And then the day of birth came. She entered the hospital room, her hands resting on her rounded belly, and smiled at the doctor.
— Doctor, I think my time has come…
The young doctor looked at her more closely and frowned. He asked her to lie down, examined her, and suddenly turned pale. He called a colleague, then another one. They whispered by the bed, exchanged looks, and finally one of them said:
— Ma’am… excuse me, but… what was your doctor thinking?
Continuation in the first comment
The woman tensed.
— What do you mean? I’ve been carrying a child for nine months!
The doctor took a deep breath and, struggling to find the right words, replied:
— You don’t have a baby. This is not a pregnancy. There is a huge tumor in your abdomen. That is what has been growing all this time.
Everything went dark before her eyes.
— What?.. How is that possible? The tests showed…
— The tests could have reacted to the hormonal changes caused by the tumor, — the doctor said gently. — It happens, though very rarely.
Later it also became known that during all these 9 months the woman had been carefully avoiding modern examinations, especially ultrasound.
— In the old days women gave birth without any equipment, — she reassured herself. — I won’t let technology harm my baby.
At that moment she felt as if the world was collapsing. All nine months — had it all been an illusion? All her hopes, all her conversations with the “baby”? She pressed her hands to her belly and quietly whispered:
— But… I believed…
Doctors immediately began an emergency examination. Fortunately, the tumor turned out to be benign. The woman underwent surgery, and her life was saved.
After recovering, she sat for a long time by the hospital window thinking about how strangely deceptive fate can be. She did not become a mother, but she gained something else — an understanding of the value of life itself.
And even though she didn’t have a baby, she now had a second chance — to live, to rejoice, and to be with those who love her.
And when she was being discharged, the doctor who had first told her the terrible truth said:
— You are a very strong woman. Maybe that is your true miracle.
And she smiled for the first time in many months.
