'Miracle baby' keeps Bay Roberts woman hopeful after cancer diagnosis during pregnancy
Keri-Lynn Cramm and her husband say they've dealt with infertility for years
Keri-Lynn Cramm, 30, has been jumping hurdles throughout her entire journey with fertility. Those obstacles didn't disappear when she found out she was pregnant this fall.
The Bay Roberts woman and her husband started fertility treatments five years ago after finding out they were affected by male factor infertility.
Pregnancy tests kept coming up negative and many of the treatments failed.
"All of our friends were pregnant and having babies … so we were just scratching our heads," Cramm said in an interview with CBC Radio's The St. John's Morning Show.
The only option left was IVF, or in-vitro fertilization. It's not yet available in Newfoundland and Labrador, so the couple traveled to Ottawa.
It wasn't until her second IVF treatment in September 2024 that Cramm became pregnant.
"It was so hard to wrap our minds around after years of not being pregnant," she said. "I'm halfway through the pregnancy and I'm still shocked."
But Cramm later found a lump on her breast. She went to her doctor, and they both assumed that it was likely pregnancy-related, she said.
Then everything changed.
"I said, 'hey, this is getting a lot worse.' Not just a little bit, but a lot and very quickly," Cramm said.
Nineteen weeks into her pregnancy, she was diagnosed with invasive breast cancer.
"We are beyond excited to say that we are 19 weeks pregnant with our precious miracle baby," Cramm wrote in a post on Facebook.
"However, we are devastated to say that I was just diagnosed with Stage 2 invasive breast cancer."
Cramm's treatment plan is not yet set in stone. She said she will have to undergo chemotherapy while pregnant.
"I had no idea that was a possibility," she said.
WATCH | The CBC's Carolyn Stokes talks with Keri-Lynn Cramm about her fertility struggles amid a cancer diagnosis:
Chemotherapy is considered safe while in the second or third trimester of a pregnancy, but not the first, she said.
Cramm says she will find out more about her diagnosis and treatment this week, and is remaining hopeful.
"I have a good support system and that's what's kept me at peace and have strength through all of this," said Cramm.
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With files from The St. John's Morning Show
