Mom puts off cancer treatments to do in vitro fertilization, delivers triplets

By Shelby Lofton

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    DRAPER, Utah (KSL TV) — A Lindon woman diagnosed with two kinds of cancer delivered the first set of triplets born at Lone Peak Hospital.

Kahea Benitez-Kauo and her husband, Hector Benitez, have dreamed of growing their family for years.

“We knew that we wanted to have kids,” Kahea Benitez-Kauo said. “Especially our nine-year-old; he really wants siblings.”

Their journey to getting pregnant was an unusually difficult one.

In 2021, shortly after Hector Benitez moved to the U.S. from Puerto Rico, Kahea Benitez-Kauo was diagnosed with breast cancer.

“My first cousin was diagnosed with cancer,” she said. “She actually passed away three months after I got diagnosed.”

They tried one round of in vitro fertilization, but it was unsuccessful. The following week, she started chemotherapy. Kahea Benitez-Kauo also had a double mastectomy.

“We did chemo for four and a half months, then we found out at the last chemo appointment that we had to do radiation for 28 days,” she said.

On her last day of radiation, the couple received bad news.

“I got diagnosed with thyroid cancer,” Kahea Benitez-Kauo said. “Definitely heart dropped. Not what I was expecting, but we were again like, ‘Well, here we go, we’re just going to knock it out of the park and just do what we have to do.’”

After a total thyroidectomy, doctors found another tumor.

“Technically, I still have a cancerous tumor behind my collarbone that they can’t get to,” she said.

The couple was still determined to have a baby, so she opted to put off thyroid cancer treatment.

“I guess it’s still about just enjoying what we have and enjoying our time together, and whatever happens, happens,” Kahea Benitez-Kauo said. “We have no say on when our time comes.”

The couple underwent more rounds of IVF.

“The first three didn’t work, which was kind of traumatic because we would go through the process, and they would get so close, they’d be like, ‘Oh, you know, the next appointment should be good when we can do egg retrieval,’ and then we’d go in, and the eggs would be gone,” Kahea Benitez-Kauo said.

Finally, they learned they were pregnant with three babies.

“I actually don’t even remember being able to hear their heartbeats because we were so in shock,” she said.

They learned they would have a baby boy and identical twin girls.

“The chance of embryo splitting is like 2%,” the couple said.

Legend León, Kahea Linda and Keilani Kalei were born April 18.

After nearly six weeks in the hospital, the babies graduated from the NICU Tuesday. They were dressed in caps and gowns and greeted with a clap from hospital staff.

“It was very sentimental because we’ve become family with the nurses and the doctors and everyone just there,” Kahea Benitez-Kauo said.

With the babies now home, the parents are focused on learning their personalities and figuring out their schedule.

Kahea Benitez-Kauo said this isn’t what she imagined years ago when she and her husband first tried IVF. Even though more diapers and bottles are involved, their dream has come true.

“I would have just told myself, be patient and have faith,” she said.

Kahea Benitez-Kauo said her medical team at Lone Peak Hospital will continue to monitor her cancer.

“I’ll go in for an ultrasound here soon and then, we’ll see about treatments,” she said.

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