Lucas' wife had cancer while pregnant

LOS ANGELES, Sept. 24 (UPI) -- Jessica Henriquez, the wife of U.S. actor Josh Lucas, says she declined to undergo treatment for cervical cancer when she was pregnant with their son.

Henriquez, 27, had already been diagnosed when she met Lucas at a dog park last year. They announced their engagement in January, married in March and their son Noah was born in June, People.com said.

She underwent two rounds of treatments deemed unsuccessful and was told to consider a hysterectomy shortly before she discovered she was pregnant, People.com said.

"I hadn't thought about children. It wasn't my dream since I was a little girl to have a family," Henriquez told The Huffington Post. "But when a doctor looks you in the eyes and takes that option off the table, it immediately sets something off in you -- this motherhood gene."

She acknowledged "almost every oncologist would disagree with my decision" but emphasized she was comfortable with not having the hysterectomy so she could keep her baby.

"I think that things happen in life that you have to pay attention to," she said.

"I never thought I'd be a mom at 27, but I don't for a second regret anything -- no matter what the outcome is," she went on.

"If the cancer has progressed because I did nothing for a year to contain it or treat it, I don't feel any guilt, and I don't feel like it was a bad decision," Henriquez said. "Every morning that I wake up with Josh and Noah, I'm even more assured that it was the right decision for me."

People.com said doctors have told Henriquez the cancer did not spread, but she will continue treatment this fall.