TiLiyah Dawson, from Georgia, United States, was 19 and had just graduated from high school in 2023 when she discovered she was pregnant.
Everything seemed to be progressing normally until an ultrasound revealed that her daughter, Tyra, was developing a rare cervical teratoma, a tumor growing in her neck. ““I was told my daughter was developing what is called a teratoma”,” she told Newsweek.
During the pregnancy, the tumor continued to grow and turned the delivery, which took place in 2024, into a high-risk situation. Tyra was born by cesarean section, spent time in the neonatal ICU, and later underwent surgery to remove the tumor, which turned out not to be cancerous.
Today, at age 2, the girl has made good progress: in May 2026, her tracheostomy and feeding tube were removed, and she continues to receive medical checkups and speech therapy.
TiLiyah, who is now 22, says her daughter is doing much better and that the whole experience completely changed her life.