Hendersonville, North Carolina - The female stingray from North Carolina that made headlines with her apparent pregnancy sadly isn't expecting – the animal is actually suffering from a rare reproductive disease.

Aquarium & Shark Lab by Team ECCO called their round stingray Charlotte's pregnancy a miracle in their February announcement.

Sadly, after months of waiting, no baby rays appeared, which worried the team and led to further testing.

Last week, the Aquarium & Shark Lab by Team ECCO shared the upsetting news on Facebook: what appeared to be a rare case of parthenogenesis, a type of asexual reproduction, was actually a disease.

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"Charlotte has developed a rare reproductive disease that has negatively impacted her reproductive system," the aquarium said. "The findings are truly a sad and unexpected medical development."

When aquarium founder Brenda Ramer noticed Charlotte's back protruding, she thought the round stingray had developed cancer, as NPR reported.

Ramer sent pictures to two experts, and both confirmed that Charlotte's lumps were actually eggs, and subsequent ultrasounds appeared to show ray embryos.

The surprising story made Charlotte a star and increased visits to the aquarium.

Ramer had two theories about the ray's pregnancy. She thought it was either parthenogenesis or a hybrid pregnancy from when Charlotte shared her tank with two male sharks.

Warren Booth, an associate professor of entomology at Virginia Tech who studies facultative parthenogenesis, told NPR that Charlotte's case "is a very weird story."

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"The most unusual thing for me is that I recall seeing footage of an ultrasound [which Charlotte had in February], and on that ultrasound, you could see an embryonic ray," Booth said.

The case is so strange that he wonders "if the female aborted the developing embryo(s) and either consumed them or a tank mate consumed them."

The Aquarium & Shark Lab by Team ECCO says their priority now is Charlotte's health.

"We will work with, and be guided by, veterinarians and specialists to better understand this disease and the treatment options for Charlotte," the facility wrote on Facebook.