A mum who feared her dream of having more children was over after a gruelling two-year cancer battle has revealed she’s now pregnant – with miracle twins.
Zoe Plastiras was diagnosed with a rare and aggressive form of lymphoma while pregnant with her first child, Ophelia.
But after years of failed treatments, menopause symptoms and fears she’d never conceive again – the 26-year-old is now celebrating a miracle pregnancy that’s left doctors stunned.
“Every baby is a miracle, but twins is out of this world and beyond my wildest dreams,” she told Need To Know.
“Especially after everything my body has been through, I am so shocked it managed to create two babies at once.
“It’s a true miracle out of menopause.”
The brow technician first fell pregnant with her daughter Ophelia in 2022 after seven months of trying.
Everything was going smoothly until she reached 34 weeks and suddenly became severely breathless.
A chest X-ray revealed a 12cm tumour in her chest and she was diagnosed with primary mediastinal non-Hodgkin lymphoma, a rare cancer that starts in the thymus gland.
After having her daughter at 37 weeks, just 11 weeks later, Zoe, from Buckinghamshire, began cancer treatment.
What followed was two exhausting years of chemotherapy, failed treatments and endless hospital stays as doctors tried to get her disease under control.
She was just 23 when she got the devastating diagnosis, and despite her best efforts to stay positive, the long fight took its toll.
She said: “I took the diagnosis very well. I was upset for myself, my family and my new baby, but I was very positive for a good year.
“It was the 12-month-plus mark of treatment when I was really starting to lose all hope and was becoming very mentally challenged.”
Her prognosis had started off strong, but as treatment after treatment failed, Zoe was left clinging to hope that her final option – CAR T Cell therapy – would save her life.
In October 2024, she finally got the news she’d been dreaming of – she was in remission.
But her joy was mixed with heartbreak.
Years of harsh cancer drugs had sent her body into early menopause and doctors warned her she now had just a 5% chance of falling pregnant.
She said: “While I was going through cancer treatment, I knew infertility could happen to me.
“I suffered going in and out of the menopause every time my cancer treatment stopped and started.”
Zoe started looking into IVF options, but blood tests showed she had premature ovarian insufficiency, meaning her body wasn’t producing enough eggs for her age.
Doctors told her the chances of conceiving with her own eggs were almost zero.
She said: “Before I fell pregnant, I was looking into IVF options but when you’re diagnosed with premature ovarian insufficiency (not enough eggs for my age) and menopause, IVF clinics are not big on you using your own eggs.
“You could essentially be wasting your money.
“So I started going down the donor egg route. This is a huge mental load to take on – to have a baby that’s not genetically yours.”
Refusing to give up on her dream of giving Ophelia a sibling, Zoe went through consultations, trying to come to terms with the thought of having a baby who wasn’t genetically hers.
Then, out of nowhere, everything changed.
In early June 2025, Zoe’s body surprised her with a single natural period – her first in nine months.
A few weeks later, she took a pregnancy test and couldn’t believe her eyes.
After everything her body had been through, she was pregnant – naturally.
She said: “Once I had that period, I tried for a baby straight away just in case the periods were going to stop again.
“I was weeing on ovulation sticks every day but they were all negative.
“When I found out I was pregnant, I couldn’t believe it – a true miracle.
“A journey I thought was going to be so sad and heartbreaking turned out to be quick and easy for me.”
But there was another surprise waiting. At her six-week scan, Zoe discovered she wasn’t just having one baby – she was expecting twins.
She said: “I went for a six-week scan and then found out I was carrying twins. It was truly amazing.
“I actually was so over the moon! I just jumped up and down in excitement. I literally had a client five minutes after I took my test and ran to show her like, ‘Do you see a line?!’”
Now Zoe is preparing to welcome her two miracle babies in March 2026, when she’s scheduled for a planned C-section at 37 weeks.
Her pregnancy is classed as high-risk – both because she’s carrying twins and due to her cancer history – but so far everything is going smoothly.
She’s being closely monitored by obstetricians and her cancer team, who are fascinated by her case.
In fact, Zoe is believed to be the first woman under Oxford’s care to fall pregnant after CAR T Cell therapy – let alone with twins.
Now in her second trimester, Zoe says she’s feeling good, if a little more tired this time around.
After years of heartbreak and hospital wards, she’s finally living her dream – and preparing for double the joy.
She said: “I still can’t quite believe it.
“After everything my body’s been through, I never thought I’d be here – healthy, in remission and carrying two little miracles.
“It just goes to show that even when it feels like all hope is gone, your body can surprise you in the most incredible way.”
