Leilani Tukuafu recounts family testimony of faith, cancer and birth

Leilani Losehina Tukuafu is sharing a personal testimony about her mother’s breast cancer diagnosis during pregnancy in 1995 and the decision to continue the pregnancy. The story traces how that choice shaped a large New Zealand family and still informs her faith three decades later.

Why it matters: - Leilani Losehina Tukuafu’s testimony turns a private family experience into a broader message about faith, fear and medical uncertainty. - The story centers on a 1995 pregnancy that ended with Tukuafu’s birth and a family narrative that still shapes eight children and six grandchildren decades later.

What happened: - Tukuafu shared “A Legacy of Faith,” a personal testimony about her mother’s breast cancer diagnosis during pregnancy and the beliefs that guided her parents. - In 1995, Tukuafu’s mother was diagnosed with breast cancer while three months pregnant. - The family recalls that doctors recommended ending the pregnancy and undergoing breast surgery because delaying treatment could endanger both mother and baby. - Tukuafu’s parents were given a week to decide while already raising two young children. - The family says prayer, fasting and difficult conversations helped them weigh the medical advice against their beliefs. - The parents chose to continue the pregnancy.

The details: - During the pregnancy, Tukuafu’s mother traveled from New Zealand to the United States, first to Sacramento, California, and then to Salt Lake City, Utah. - While in Utah, she felt prompted to visit the Salt Lake Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. - She asked to meet temple president George I. Cannon and receive a blessing, accompanied by her young son. - Tukuafu recounts that President Cannon’s blessing spoke of reassurance, family and the possibility of more children. - Tukuafu says her mother called her husband in Auckland immediately after the blessing. - “As long as we stay close to our Heavenly Father, we’ll be okay,” her father told her, as recalled in Tukuafu’s account. - After returning to New Zealand, her mother continued to deal with significant pain as her December due date approached. - On Dec. 25, 1995, she went to the hospital and was told it was not yet time to deliver. - On Dec. 26, Leilani Losehina Tukuafu was born at the family home in Māngere, Auckland. - Her father called an ambulance, and mother and baby were taken to the hospital before returning home a few days later. - Tukuafu says later medical examinations found no detectable cancer in her mother, though doctors warned it could return. - Three decades later, the family includes eight children, five daughters and three sons, including five children born after Leilani. - The family also has six grandchildren. - “We are so grateful to our Father in Heaven for his continued blessings,” Tukuafu writes.

Between the lines: - Tukuafu frames the story as both a family remembrance and a statement of identity rooted in prayer, family and trust in God and Jesus Christ. - The testimony presents faith as the lens through which the family interpreted a medical crisis that could have unfolded very differently. - The account also highlights how personal religious experiences can become a lasting source of meaning across generations.

What’s next: - Tukuafu is using “A Legacy of Faith” to encourage others facing uncertainty. - Her closing message is direct: “You are not alone!”

The bottom line: - The testimony casts one family’s pregnancy crisis as a decades-long story of survival, belief and gratitude.