FOR Fox News Channel medical contributor Dr. Nicole Saphier, motherhood came earlier than she anticipated.
Saphier, a radiologist and the Director of Breast Imaging at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center Monmouth, has a new book revealing formative details about her journey into motherhood.
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Saphier's new book - entitled Love, Mom - will be released by Fox News Books on April 16.
And while she's enjoying a peak moment, Saphier has been on quite a journey to get here.
Saphier, 42, faced a tough decision early on in her young life after getting pregnant at 17 during the summer between her junior and senior years of high school.
She recalled that the pregnancy was "certainly nothing that I was wishing for or thinking would be right for me at that point in my life."
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Saphier also came to the stark realization that those she thought were her friends weren't there for her.
"It was a lonely time for sure," she continued.
"Definitely spent a lot of nights crying into my pillow, listening to some music, trying to get some inspiration, reading my teen bible.
"I was kind of grasping at straws at that point, trying to find sources to help me make this decision and let me know that whatever I decided to do, that it was going to be okay."
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Ultimately, Saphier decided to have her son - now almost 24 - who has turned out to be one of her greatest gifts.
'PROVING THEM WRONG'
Instead of succumbing to the loneliness she endured, she let it fuel her ambitions to become a doctor.
"When I made the decision to have my child, I needed to prove everyone wrong - everyone who was doubting me, everyone who told me that I wouldn't become the doctor, that I wouldn't be successful, that I wouldn't be able to have a happy and healthy and fulfilling life," Saphier said.
"I've spent the last 23 years proving them wrong and then some."
She graduated high school with her son, Nicholas, in the stands and then went on to college and medical school.
"From there, he continued to be right by my side," Saphier said of her son.
But even then, the path wasn't always easy. Saphier was in medical school when her Italian grandmother died of advanced breast cancer.
"I knew that I wanted to focus my professional career on making sure that people don't die from late-stage diagnosis - not when we actually have the technology and the capability to detect it at a much earlier and more treatable stage," she explained.
She has since dedicated her career to early breast cancer detection to "afford people the best possible chance at survival" if and when they experience that diagnosis, she said.
"I had to make certain decisions in the moment, what was best for my son, what was best for me," Saphier explained.
Her desire to pursue this particular work fueled her to continue forging ahead, even on the toughest days.
"I definitely took a more circular, twisty, and windy road to get where I am," she said of her personal journey.
"But it is those less traveled paths that really make us who we are today - and sometimes can be more fulfilling than that straight narrow path."
Saphier eventually married brain and spine surgeon Paul Saphier. They share two sons.
In addition to her contributions to Fox News, Saphier is an associate professor in radiology at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City.
'WE'RE NOT ALONE'
In the decades since becoming a mom for the first time, Saphier has only continued to transcend the limits some tried to impose on her.
The new book was a turning point for Saphier as she divulged details of her early pregnancy and journey that weren't previously known to the public.
"That was quite the gift - that I was able to do that and be so honest," she said.
Beyond her own words, the book features stories from Saphier's Fox colleagues - including Janice Dean, Rachel Campos-Duffy, Martha MacCallum, Kayleigh McEnany, Carley Shimkus, and others - as well as her personal friends and even patients.
"I love that people got very raw and they talked about what it's like going through divorce, blended families, adoption, cancer diagnoses, domestic violence," she explained.
"Every time I went back and edited this book, I found myself laughing, I found myself crying.
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"At the end, I always felt this warm feeling in my heart. And it was also just a reminder that as a mom, we are all dealing with a bunch of crazy things and somehow we make it work.
"But we have to lean on our faith, family, and friends to really get us there - and that we're not alone."
