He had a severe form of spina bifida, in which the backbone and spinal cord do not develop properly. The foetus, 24 weeks and 2 days old, less than 2 pounds, was about to have surgery. “All right, it’s the real deal,” said Dr Michael A Belfort, chairman of obstetrics and gynaecology at Baylor College of Medicine and obstetrician and gynaecologist-in-chief of Texas Children’s Hospital, Houston. Smooth skin gave way to an opening that should not have been there, a bare oval exposing a white rim of bone and the nerves of the spinal cord.
Fingers, toes, the soles of his feet - all exquisite, all perfectly formed. The patient, still inside his mother’s womb, came into focus on flat screens in a darkened operating room.
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