Baby Born with 4-Lb. Tumor on Her Tailbone: 'Seeing It on the Ultrasound Was Scary' (Exclusive)

Mar. 15, 2025

Adalida Tyler was born with a 4-lb. tumor.Photo:Texas Children’s Hospital

Texas Children’s Hospital

Kristin and Jacob Tyler were ecstatic to find out they were pregnant in September 2023. The couple from Alexandria, Louisiana, had a 1-year-old son and looked forward to expanding their family.

They traveled 245 miles from home to meetDr. Ahmed Nassr, a maternal fetal medicine specialist and fetal surgeon at Texas Children’s Pavilion for Women. Nassr explained that the tumor was “very rare.” They Tylers learned more about the condition — that it occurs in girls more often that boys, and that it’s usually benign. But in most cases, doctors don’t know why it happens.

“It’s just bad luck,” says Nassr,

An image of the benign tumor when Adalida Tyler was in utero.Texas Children’s Hospital

“I was very scared,” Kristin says. “After so many doctor appointments and seeing it on the ultrasound, it was scary."

What made it worse was that she didn’t have any friends or family members who had ever heard of the diagnosis. “There was nobody for me to reach out to talk about it,” she says, “It felt like we were in the dark.”

Adalida Tyler at birth.Texas Children’s Hospital

Then on May 21, at 34 weeks, Kristin delivered via C-section.

Nassr recalls the tumor size being “a little bit smaller than a watermelon," but larger than a cantaloupe. “It was a big tumor, that’s why we were so worried,” he says.

Adalida Tyler at home.Kristin Tyler

Kristin Tyler

Two days later, a pediatric surgery team was able to remove the tumor successfully. Adalida went home from the hospital on her due date, June 29.

In fact, Adalida has met all developmental milestones.

When Adalida is between two and three years old, the family will return to Texas Children’s for cosmetic surgery.

Since the tumor was removed from the bottom of her spine, only a flat surface was left. “So it was almost her whole butt — so it’s flat right there, from her back to her legs," says Kristin. “They’re basically going to make her look more like everybody else. They told me that all of the medical stuff was taken care of, that it was just cosmetic.”

Faith is what got the family through the difficult journey, she says, as well as the support of her friends and family.

She adds, “It was an eye-opener for me how much love and gratitude people give and how much support people give when you’re going through something hard.”

source: people.com