Tim Tebow says doctors referred to him a 'tumor' to convince his mom to abort him

Minor league baseball star Tim Tebow has recently revealed how doctors tried to convince his mother to abort him by referring to him as a "tumor" that needed to be removed.

During the 2018 Passion Conference in Atlanta, Georgia, last week, Tebow shared the story of his birth after Pastor Louie Giglio asked him, "What made you into the person you are?"

"I was born in the Philippines to missionary parents and I have a special birth story. The doctors said that I wasn't even a baby; they said I was a tumor," he said, according to The Christian Post.

The former NFL player joked that his siblings have never allowed him to forget that and gave him the nickname "Timmy the Tumor" after he was born.

Despite the doctors' advice, Tebow's parents decided to trust God and go through with the pregnancy.

"There was a lot of craziness with my entire ... with my mom's pregnancy with me. She decided to trust God and not what the doctors were saying," he said at the annual college student conference.

Tebow said that his life is a miracle because there were no complications even after his birth. "And then I was born, and it was a miracle — the placenta wasn't attached throughout the entire pregnancy. I was malnourished, but I made up for it pretty quickly," he recounted.

The young athlete went on to thank his parents for being such faith-filled people and for serving as great models and influencers.

Tebow had received widespread media coverage during his time in the NFL for his outward expression of his faith on the football field. In September 2016, the athlete decided to leave football behind and signed with the New York Mets. He is expected to return for another season in the minor league baseball system this year.

The Christian athlete kicked off the New Year by launching the "Giving Gala" on Jan. 5 to raise money for his "Night to Shine" foundation, which aims to help people with special needs, ages 14 and older, experience prom. More than 500 churches across the world will create prom nights of their own as part of the Night to Shine event that will take place on Feb. 9.

Tebow's mother, Pam, is scheduled to speak at the 45th annual March for life in Washington D.C. later this month. She will be joined by other prominent pro-life advocates, including NFL player Matt Birk and his wife Adrianna, U.S. Representatives Dan Lipinski and Chris Smith, and Sisters for Life's Sr. Bethany Madonna.

In 2010, Tebow and his mother appeared in a Super Bowl advertisement, in which she referred to him as her "miracle baby" who "almost didn't make it into this world."