Welcome to MyMolarPregnancy.com. If you’ve come to this site because you have had or are currently being treated for this condition, I’m very sorry for your loss. If you’ve come in out of curiosity, I hope you will leave with a better awareness of the existence and impact of molar pregnancy, particularly if you are a woman of childbearing age. If you know someone who has had a miscarriage diagnosed as a molar pregnancy, I urge you to refer them to this site for information and support.
MyMolarPregnancy.com is unique among molar pregnancy sites on the web because it incorporates information, links, references, and a number of interactive web features for women who have lost a pregnancy due to a hydatidiform mole.
WHAT IS A MOLAR PREGNANCY, OR GESTATIONAL TROPHOBLASTIC DISEASE?
Here is a synopsis from the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute:
“Gestational trophoblastic tumor, a rare cancer in women, is a disease in which cancer (malignant) cells grow in the tissues that are formed following conception (the joining of sperm and egg). Gestational trophoblastic tumors start inside the uterus, the hollow, muscular, pear-shaped organ where a baby grows. This type of cancer occurs in women during the years when they are able to have children. There are two types of gestational trophoblastic tumors: hydatidiform mole and choriocarcinoma.
If a patient has a hydatidiform mole (also called a molar pregnancy), the sperm and egg cells have joined without the development of a baby in the uterus. Instead, the tissue that is formed resembles grape-like cysts. Hydatidiform mole does not spread outside of the uterus to other parts of the body.
If a patient has a choriocarcinoma, the tumor may have started from a hydatidiform mole or from tissue that remains in the uterus following an abortion or delivery of a baby. Choriocarcinoma can spread from the uterus to other parts of the body. A very rare type of gestational trophoblastic tumor starts in the uterus where the placenta was attached. This type of cancer is called placental-site trophoblastic disease.”
Another useful site is the one maintained by the National Cancer Institute at the National Institutes of Health. It includes references and some illustrations. I am not a physician myself, I am—like most of the women who visit this site—just a mother who lost a baby to this very rare and poorly understood condition. It is my hope that this site will continue to grow as the most complete resource for those dealing with this type of loss. You can help! Here’s how:
- Join and participate in our support groups on Facebook and/or Yahoo! Groups, linked in the menu above, where women of all ages and from all around the world gather to talk about their experiences, thoughts, feelings, concerns, and questions about their molar pregnancies and life after a mole…
- Contribute your molar pregnancy story to our Personal Stories collection…
- Leave comments around the site (no spamming please) to let us know you were here, whether you’ve had a molar pregnancy and needed information or were just browsing through…
- Visit our Profile Survey page to see common factors among women who’ve had molar pregnancies…
- Or simply refer this site—MyMolarPregnancy.com—to someone you know who has had a molar pregnancy or to your doctor so that others can take advantage of all this site has to offer them during this difficult time.
Whether you’ve had a molar pregnancy yourself, know someone who has, or just surfed into this site out of curiosity, your visit here can help. By learning more about molar pregnancy and helping to spread the word, you can help raise awareness of the condition. Who knows? With increased attention, perhaps someday we’ll find a reason for molar pregnancy and a way to prevent it from ever happening again.
