Cancer survivor defies the odds and gives birth to 'miracle' baby after ovaries removed

Stacey Broadmeadow overcame a rare cancer diagnosis and the loss of her ovaries to achieve her dream of motherhood

Stacey Broadmeadow gave birth to her baby boy Harry after having her ovaries removed as part of life-saving cancer treatment. PA

A cancer survivor from Stockport, Greater Manchester, has given birth to a “miracle” baby boy named Harry, after having her ovaries removed as part of a life-saving cancer treatment.

Stacey Broadmeadow, 38, discovered she had a rare cancer called pseudomyxoma peritonea and was warned that she may lose her ovaries.

She underwent two rounds of egg harvesting and managed to freeze 17 eggs before having both ovaries removed.

Against all odds, she gave birth to Harry after only two embryos were deemed good enough for IVF treatment and the first fertility attempt ended in miscarriage.

Ms Broadmeadow first began to feel unwell in 2017. She underwent an ultrasound scan, followed by a CAT scan and blood tests, which led to the discovery of the cancer.

She then underwent initial surgery at the Christie NHS Foundation Trust in Manchester and was told she would also need a second operation to remove her spleen, gallbladder, layers of tissue, Fallopian tubes and both ovaries.

Following the surgery, she took about three to four months to recover and was forced to shield through the Covid-19 pandemic to protect her health.

Ms Broadmeadow was fortunate enough to have her eggs harvested on the NHS between the two operations.

Of the 17 eggs harvested, she had four embryos but only two made it to the next level, and one was transferred but she miscarried.

The other embryo, which was Harry, was not the most viable embryo, but they put him in the freezer anyway. The final embryo was transferred in February last year and Ms Broadmeadow became pregnant.

Harry was born in November 2022, and Ms Broadmeadow calls him her “little miracle”.

“For me to be diagnosed with what I had, and to go through everything that I did, and for him then to be that little embryo that I was told wasn’t the best … I call him my little Nemo,” she said.

Ms Broadmeadow, who is on maternity leave from her job as theatre manager at the Palace and Opera House in Manchester, said her life has changed completely since giving birth to Harry. Her mother, Susan, is also “in her element”.

Specialist nurse Rebecca Halstead, from the Christie, supported Ms Broadmeadow throughout her fertility treatment.

The lead colorectal and peritoneal oncology clinical nurse specialist said: “Being there for patients like Stacey is the reason I do what I do. PMP is rare, so many patients remain undiagnosed or receive incorrect and inadequate treatment before they receive the right diagnosis.

“Here at the Christie, we not only have the expertise and technology to treat these patients today, but we’re also doing research that will benefit patients in the future.”