After being told that she would never have children, Elizabeth Joice was ecstatic to find out that she was pregnant. A fertility specialist told her that the chemotherapy she underwent in 2010 to beat cancer made this impossible, but being a mother was always one of Elizabeth’s dreams.

Only one month into her pregnancy, the cancer returned. Surgeons removed the tumors in her back and hoped for the best, but that was not the end of Elizabeth’s struggle.  She was later told that a full body MRI was needed, but that posed a difficult decision. MRI contrast dyes can harm a developing fetus, which meant that her baby could be harmed by this procedure. She had to terminate the pregnancy to undergo the scan or continue carrying the fetus and be unsure of the developing cancer. Her husband Max said, “We felt that if we terminated this pregnancy and did these scans, if it turned out that there was no evidence of this disease after the scans, then we would have possibly given up our only chance at having a child naturally and would have done it for nothing.” Because it may be her only chance, Elizabeth decided to continue with her dream of having a family.

Hearing about Elizabeth’s shocking story, filmmaker Christopher Henze decided that he had to meet her. He was preparing an upcoming documentary on pregnancy and wanted to use Elizabeth’s amazing story in his film.

During the pregnancy, she had trouble breathing and in January, a shielded X-ray showed signs of tumors in her lungs. To try and save mother and baby, her C-section date was moved closer. On January 23, Lily Joice was born; six weeks early. Although she was born two months early, she is doing well and developing into a very healthy baby.

After delivery, when a full body scan could be performed, doctors found cancer in Elizabeth’s heart, abdomen, and pelvis. At this point, chances of survival were very low. At thirty-six years old, Elizabeth Joice died in the hospital. Now that she is gone, her husband Max wants the world to know her story and will be helping Christopher Henze to prepare the documentary.