​Doctors misdiagnosed a woman’s stage 4 cervical cancer as ‘just period’

A woman who was diagnosed with stage 4 cervical cancer says her initial symptoms were repeatedly dismissed by male doctors as “just your period.”

Charley Jayne Law, 31, who is also a mother, started experiencing heavy bleeding, and the clots were the size of her palms. She visited the doctors (who were male) multiple times in a London hospital for over two months, however, they dismissed it as periods.

I have stage 4 cervical cancer at 31 — male doctors dismissed my symptoms as ‘just my period’. They eventually referred her to a gynecologist at King’s College Hospital. The doctors ran numerous blood tests, and diagnoses. She was diagnosed with stage 4 cervical cancer on January 27, 2025.

“The news on January 27 tore my world apart,” the woman said.

The woman was very unwell and had to be admitted to the hospital. Though not seeing her children every day was tough for her, she had to make the decision to put them in emergency foster care. “My body was on the verge of giving up as during this entire time I was still a mom. I was still doing the school runs, I was still dealing with my toddler by myself, the housework, the appointments and scans, and everything in between — despite begging for help from social services, the kid’s school, and anyone that would help. I had to make the hardest decision to place my children who have never been away from mommy not even for one night into emergency foster care. WHY? The mom guilt was so bad but I knew that if I didn’t go into hospital I wouldn’t have been here the following day,” she said.

She is currently in Guy’s Cancer Center, according to the New York Post, and she has been told that the cancer is incurable. However, it is treatable and she is building up her strength, after dropping from 168 lbs to 98 lbs. She can start chemotherapy.


“I was bleeding clots the size of my palms,” Charley, a native of Sydenham, London, said. She also recalled how the male doctors failed to diagnose her illness, and even avoided doing basic examinations. “I attended hospital multiple times between September and December 2024 and was fobbed off with “it’s just your period” by multiple male doctors who didn’t even do the basics of an examination,” the woman recalled. “The news on January 27 tore my world apart," she added.

She also shared that she knew something was wrong.



She is hoping to start chemotherapy in the coming months, as she gains weight. However, her kids are still struggling to understand why they can’t see their mother. A family member has set up a fundraiser to help the mother of three.

(Representative image courtesy: iStock)