(File photo)

A woman from Shanghai gave birth last December, but her road to motherhood was complicated by a breast cancer diagnosis that she received during her pregnancy.

The woman, named Zhang Lijun, was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in her fifth month of pregnancy. The doctors suggested that Zhang have her labor induced so as to undergo cancer treatment as early as possible. However, the mother-to-be refused the doctors' recommendation and decided to postpone her treatment until after she had delivered the baby.

Since Zhang couldn't undergo any treatments, which would be toxic for the baby, her condition deteriorated rapidly. Finally, to speed up Zhang's delivery, the hospital decided that she should have the baby via a cesarean section.

The baby was finally born last December, three months in advance of Zhang's original due date. Unfortunately, by that time Zhang's cancer had already spread. Palliative treatment was her only choice. In order to leave some memories for the baby, Zhang started recording videos for her child to watch in the future. She recorded 18 of them in total, and requested that the child be given one to watch on each birthday.

Zhang recently traveled with her husband to the U.S., both for leisure and medical treatment. Now she is back home, still fighting the advancing disease.