SoCal leukemia patient gives birth to twins after finding perfect donor match

CARSON, Calif. (FOX 11) - A Southern California mother battling a rare form of leukemia gave birth to twins just a week after finding a perfect donor match, her family said.

Susie Rabaca delivered a girl and a boy on Thursday named Rainy and Ryan. All three were said to be doing fine.

The 36-year-old, already a mother to three other children with her husband, was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia just a few months into her pregnancy with the twins.

Doctors said she needed a bone marrow transplant to survive. None of her family members were matches, and no matches were found on the worldwide registry.

Her family's desperate search for a bone marrow transplant then went viral.

After learning Rabaca's story, approximately 40,000 people registered in the National Marrow Donor Program -- and one of them was a perfect match.

Rabaca, who lives in Carson, was planning to undergo the bone marrow transplant after the birth of her twins.