It's a secret fear most women have, even if they never voice it out loud: You're unknowingly pregnant for nine full months, but somehow miss every single symptom. Or even more curious, you show no signs of pregnancy at all. Then one day, seemingly out of blue, you begin to feel labor pains, and the next thing you know, you've given birth to a full-term baby — a baby you had no idea you were even carrying. It sounds like an episode of a TLC show, but for Erin Langmaid, it was her reality. The 23-year-old Australian model had no clue she was pregnant until she suddenly gave birth in her bathroom last month, and her world changed forever.
Langmaid said she was feeling sick on October 29 when she rushed to a bathroom inside her home.
But once she made it to the toilet, she got WAY more than she bargained for.
In less than 10 minutes, Langmaid had delivered a full-term baby girl, who arrived fast and furiously. But remarkably — despite her mother being unaware of her pregnancy and receiving no prenatal care — the infant is reportedly healthy, weighing in at 7 lbs. and 7 oz.
Paramedics soon arrived, and whisked the shocked new mother — and her equally shocked boyfriend, Daniel Carty, 31 — off to the hospital along with their surprise new addition. And once they'd calmed down long enough for their new reality to sink in, the couple also managed to decide upon on a name: Isla May.
Speaking later with 7 News, Carty recalled the "dramatic" birth scene that took him by surprise.
“I heard a scream and I ran in [to the bathroom] and then I saw the little one and I thought, ‘Hang on, there’s two,'” he told 7 News.
First, there was shock — and then panic, as the couple realized baby Isla had suddenly stopped breathing.
Carty immediately grabbed his phone to call for emergency services, but in the precious minutes before paramedics could arrive, an operator walked him through how to restore Isla's breathing.
Incredibly, it worked.
If you're wondering how on earth Langmaid could have gone nine months without even a hint that she was pregnant, it's rare -- but it happens.
For one thing, she wasn't sporting a noticeable bump.
“I wasn’t showing obviously because I fit into everything,” Langmaid told 7 News. “It’s just really bizarre.”
She also wasn't experiencing any other obvious signs of pregnancy, and told the news outlet that she was consistently using contraceptive injections.
Once Landmaid was admitted to the hospital, doctors diagnosed her with a cryptic pregnancy — a little known condition sometimes called a "stealth pregnancy." According to Healthline, it occurs when conventional testing methods fail to detect a mother is carrying a child.
"When you’re having a cryptic pregnancy, nothing sets off the chain of events that leads to discovering that you’re pregnant," the website noted. "A pregnancy test may come back negative even after you’ve missed your period. You may dismiss early pregnancy nausea as stomach flu or indigestion."
Approximately 1 in every 475 pregnancies can be described as cryptic pregnancies — but most of them only go undetected for the first 20 weeks or so. Cases like Langmaid's, which went undetected for the full length of her pregnancy, remain extremely rare.
As stunned as they are to be new parents, Langmaid and Carty, who have been together for two years, are incredibly grateful for their new addition.
On November 1, Carty took to Instagram to share their incredible story with the world.
"Isla May was brought into the world on Tuesday night, she lived in mummy’s tummy for 9 months without letting us know," Carty wrote. "After an extremely tough few days both mother and daughter are perfectly well and ready to go home. The support of our family and friends is something that we will never be able to thank them enough for."
And when speaking about his girlfriend, who had just endured a shocking and painful delivery, the new dad couldn't hide his admiration.
"Erin the courage you have shown is something I didn’t think possible, you are an incredible person and will be an amazing mum," he continued. "Now after a big week, we look forward to life as a little fam with the most gorgeous new little addition and all the great things that come with that!"
As for Langmaid, she still can't believe how much her world has changed these last few weeks, but feels incredibly blessed by her "little legend."
“I’m still in shock, but you just adjust and this is our life now,” she told 7 News. “We wouldn’t change it.”
