It is impossible to fully express the experience of expecting a child in words. Watching a new life take shape inside of you, speaking to “him” or “her” as if the child had already arrived, wishing all were well every day, and then, at last, hearing that first cry—the most wonderful sound there is.

But sometimes life puts a mother-to-be to the test, turning expecting a baby into an Fɪɢʜᴛ against time, which is exactly what happened to Susie Rebaca, a mother who has touched the hearts of thousands. In December 2018, this woman who already was the mother of a child gave birth to twins named Ryan and Rainey, after having had to also sᴛʀᴜɢɢʟᴇ with a rare form of leukemia during her pregnancy.

The day Susie found out she was pregnant was both the most beautiful and the worst day of her life. She found herself facing a ᴛᴇʀʀɪʙʟᴇ ᴅɪʟᴇᴍᴍᴀ, ending her pregnancy or carrying her pregnancy to full term while ʀɪsᴋɪɴɢ her own life.

No one should ever have to be forced to make such a choice, but this is what happened to Susie who naturally decided to go all the way. The only other possibility would have been a ʙᴏɴᴇ ᴍᴀʀʀᴏᴡ ᴛʀᴀɴsᴘʟᴀɴᴛ, but total compatibility was needed given Susie’s particular form of ᴄᴀɴᴄᴇʀ. The woman had used all her strength to avoid giving in to the ᴅɪsᴇᴀsᴇ, and then suddenly only a few weeks before the date foreseen for the birth of her twins, hope finally arrived when a ᴅᴏɴᴏʀ was found.

On 12 January 2019, Susie had an ᴏᴘᴇʀᴀᴛɪᴏɴ that would not only save her life but also give her the precious gift of seeing her children grow up.

In a  a post on Facebook, she wrote: “With eyes full of tears and a heart  full of hope, I would like to thank the Lord, and all the people who prayed for me and my family.”

Susie’s ʙᴀᴛᴛʟᴇ is not over yet and everyone hopes that she will be able to win it so that we can all see her happy together with her loved ones when this whole story will only be a ʙᴀᴅ memory.