‘Unheard of’: California doctors find ‘miracle’ as woman undergoes surgery for a 22-lb ovarian tumor

A California mother expecting surgery for a massive ovarian tumor instead delivered what doctors are calling a near-impossible medical miracle. Physicians at Cedars-Sinai say the case, involving a full-term baby growing outside the uterus and alongside a 22-pound ovarian cyst, is so rare that many clinicians never witness one in their careers.

According to Cedars-Sinai, Suze Lopez, a 41-year-old emergency room nurse from Bakersfield, had spent years managing a benign ovarian cyst that kept expanding. She had finally scheduled surgery to remove it, until a pre-operative pregnancy test upended everything. After 17 years of praying for a second child, she suddenly learned she was pregnant despite irregular periods and the long-growing mass complicating any clear symptoms.

A baby wedged between her liver and tumor

Even more surprising, however, when imaging revealed something almost no one on her medical team had ever encountered. According to John Ozimek, DO, medical director of Labor and Delivery at Cedars-Sinai, the MRI and ultrasound showed an empty uterus, and a nearly full-term baby growing in Lopez’s abdomen, wedged near her liver and pushed behind the enormous tumor. “A pregnancy this far outside the uterus that continues to develop is almost unheard of,” Ozimek said.

Known as an abdominal ectopic pregnancy, the condition is among the most dangerous scenarios in obstetrics. The placenta attaches to organs or major blood vessels rather than the uterine wall, creating a life-threatening risk of catastrophic bleeding. Survival for both mother and child is exceptionally rare, especially when the pregnancy progresses to term.

A high-stakes surgery

The team operating on Lopez needed to simultaneously navigate three high-risk tasks: deliver the baby, control the placenta attached to the abdomen, and remove the 22-pound dermoid cyst. Gynecologic oncologist Michael Manuel, MD, who led the tumor removal, said he had never seen a case progress this far in his career. “We had to figure out how to deliver the baby with a placenta and its blood vessels attached in the abdomen, remove the very large ovarian mass, and do everything we could to save mom and this child,” Manuel said.

During the operation, Lopez began hemorrhaging, requiring 11 units of blood. A specially prepared rapid-infusion device helped anesthesiologists keep her stable as the team worked against the clock. Cedars-Sinai’s Level IV Maternal Care designation, the highest for complex obstetric cases, proved essential, leaders said

Against all odds, the baby — named Ryu Jesse Lopez — was born with minimal complications, weighing eight pounds and sporting a full head of hair. Neonatologist Sara Dayanim, MD, said the team was prepared for severe respiratory challenges but was stunned to see Ryu recover quickly, breathing on his own the next day and meeting all major survival milestones during his NICU stay.

For Lopez, who pushed through recovery to spend time with her newborn, the experience is nothing short of divine. “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,” she said