A 20-year-old woman in Australia, Charlotte Summers, has shared her extraordinary experience of learning she was pregnant less than a day before giving birth—due to a rare medical condition known as cryptic pregnancy.
This condition occurs when pregnancy goes unnoticed until the later stages or even until labour begins.
Summers, who lives in Queensland, believed her recent weight gain and increase in clothing size were related to stress and lifestyle changes, not pregnancy.
“I was still buying size eight clothes,” she said in a TikTok video. “I thought it was just happy relationship weight—I’ve been with my partner for two and a half years—and I was under a lot of stress at the time.”
On June 6, she visited her General Practitioner (GP) for unrelated concerns about gluten sensitivity. During that appointment, the GP suggested a pregnancy test, which came back positive. Believing it to be an early-stage pregnancy, the GP did not express urgency.
However, Summers’ boyfriend’s family arranged an ultrasound later that same day—and the results shocked everyone. She was already 38 weeks and four days pregnant.
“I kind of blacked out,” Summers recalled. “I just grabbed my stuff, rang my partner, and said, ‘Hey, we gotta go.’”
The ultrasound also revealed a placenta-related issue, prompting doctors to admit her to the maternity ward for a likely induction. Just 17 hours and 21 minutes after first finding out she was pregnant, Summers gave birth to a healthy baby boy.
She described the experience as surreal and overwhelming: “I was on my hands and knees throwing up. I didn’t really comprehend what was going on. It was a crazy experience.”
Medical professionals later explained that her pregnancy remained undetected due to the placenta being positioned at the front of her womb, which may have masked typical pregnancy symptoms.
Summers said she experienced minimal physical changes apart from weight gain, and had continued using birth control. She also reported what seemed to be regular menstrual cycles during the pregnancy.
After sharing her story online, Summers faced backlash and accusations of dishonesty. In response, she provided official documentation from Queensland Health, confirming her diagnosis of a "concealed pregnancy," along with records of her ultrasound and delivery.
Despite the shocking turn of events, Summers says she and her partner are happy, healthy, and embracing their new life as parents.
