A Miracle Pregnancy Saves South Florida Woman’s Life After Rare Ovarian Tumor Discovery

By: Krysten Brenlla

As a healthy, 30-year-old woman, Madeline Strom never thought she would have problems getting pregnant.

“My husband and I tried everything and nothing worked. Eventually, we tried IVF,” Strom said.

Throughout her IVF journey, her doctors in Jupiter, FL noticed what looked like a fibroid.

“They told me it wasn’t anything dangerous, and that removing it could do more harm than good,” Strom said. “But when I finally got pregnant, I was constantly sick – I knew it wasn’t normal.”

Strom started experiencing symptoms she’d never seen before. Her voice deepened, she started getting acne all over her body, and she started to grow dark facial hair.

Her blood pressure also spiked, she was irritable, and her fibroid grew bigger as the weeks went by.

“The doctors kept telling me that the symptoms would improve, but my mom and I are both nurses and we knew that these weren’t normal,” Strom said. “I could barely function.”

At her 20-week ultrasound appointment, Strom’s doctors noticed her cervix was short, which can increase the risk of miscarriage or preterm birth.

Her mother, concerned about Strom’s symptoms and the growing fibroid, asked the medical team for a hormone panel.

The results shocked everyone.

Strom’s testosterone levels measured more than 35 times higher than the normal range for women. Additional ultrasounds also showed the fibroid could be a potential tumor.

Concerned and scared, Strom searched for second opinions. A new endocrinologist knew more needed to be done, and suggested she go to The Women’s Hospital at Jackson Memorial for further evaluation and treatment.

“When I got to Jackson, everyone took my case beyond serious,” Strom said. “For the first time, I felt like I had a team that was looking at the whole picture and was doing everything they could to keep me and my baby safe.”

At Jackson, she met a multidisciplinary team of surgical oncologists, endocrinologists, hepatologists, and maternal-fetal medicine specialists, including Rodrigo Ruano, MD, PhD, director of the UHealth Jackson Fetal Care Center and division chief of UHealth Jackson Maternal-Fetal Medicine, and Joseph Pearson, MD, a gynecologic oncologist at Jackson Memorial Hospital and UHealth – University of Miami Health System.

After reviewing her medical history, imaging studies, and laboratory results, the team made a diagnosis that changed the course of Strom’s pregnancy.

The fibroid was actually a rare ovarian tumor called a Sertoli-Leydig cell tumor. It produces male hormones, explaining the dramatic physical changes Strom was experiencing throughout her pregnancy.

“The doctors at Jackson kept telling me how rare it was to become pregnant with this tumor,” she said. “I was lucky because it didn’t metastasize in my body as cancer.”

On February 11, 2026, at 25 weeks pregnant, Strom underwent surgery at Jackson Memorial with Dr. Pearson and his team, who successfully removed the tumor.

“This tumor could’ve prevented pregnancy, caused her to miscarriage, or worst-case scenario, the baby could have died.

The fact that none of that happened is a miracle,” Dr. Ruano said. “We were able to work together to make a definitive diagnosis for Madeline, and once the tumor was removed, her symptoms went away and her hormone levels went down.”

After surgery, Strom went home to continue her pregnancy. But at 28 weeks pregnant, she started to feel sharp pain and pressure. With her short cervix, she didn’t want to take any chances, so she rushed back to The Women’s Hospital.

A few nights later, at 29 weeks and three days pregnant, her water broke.

“The day my water broke, it was supposed to be my baby shower,” Strom said. “It was the scariest night of my life.”

The team rushed her to the labor and delivery unit, where she advanced to four centimeters dilation. However, they were able to stop the labor and keep her stable so the baby could continue to grow in the womb for as long as possible.

At 32 weeks, on March 31, her daughter was born, weighing 3 pounds, 12 ounces.

For a month, the baby needed to stay in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) at Holtz Children’s Hospital so she could continue to develop.

“She did great in the NICU,” Strom said. “She picked up feeding quickly, and she was breathing on her own without any help after just one day. The NICU team really took care of her as if she was their own daughter.”

On May 1, the baby was ready to go home.

“Now, she’s she’s doing amazing,” Strom said.

With her story, Strom is urging expectant mothers to fight for their health if something doesn’t feel right. She credits the teams at Jackson for helping her fight, and for standing beside her every step of the way.

“I really think my daughter saved my life,” she said. “This was a miracle pregnancy – who knows if that tumor would’ve turned into terminal ovarian cancer later on. And the care that I received at Jackson was exceptional. They saved my life, and my daughter’s life – I can’t thank them enough.”