An interesting photo

This photo is circulating around Facebook right now, and I found it to be quite interesting. For one, it is a fascinating image of something I've never seen before - a pregnant uterus, removed from the mother's body and containing the fetus. It also depicts the stark contrast between the surgeon and the fetus, as shown by the tiny hand outside of the womb.

It's also interesting because the story posted along with it on Facebook - although touching - seems to be mostly false. I strive to be accurate in everything I post on this site, so I did a little digging (really, googling the fetus' name isn't difficult) and came up with a few stories about it.

Here is what I gather to be accurate about this photo:

It was taken during "a pioneering surgical procedure performed on August 19, 1999, to fix the spina bifida lesion of a 21-week-old fetus in the womb. The operation was performed by a surgical team at Vanderbilt University in Nashville. The team, Dr. Joseph Bruner and Dr. Noel Tulipan, had been developing a technique for correcting certain fetal problems in mid-pregnancy. Their procedure involved temporarily opening the uterus, draining the amniotic fluid, partially extracting and performing surgery on the tiny fetus, and then restoring the fetus to the uterus back inside the mother." (Samuel Armas, 2011)

While the popular story claims that the fetus reached his hand out of the womb and grasped the hand of the surgeon as though "thanking him for the gift of life", reports indicate that the surgeon himself contradicted this:

"The baby did not reach out," Dr Bruner said. "The baby was anesthetized. The baby was not aware of what was going on."

He also stated, “Depending on your political point of view, this is either Samuel Armas reaching out of the uterus and touching the finger of a fellow human, or it’s me pulling his hand out of the uterus … which is what I did.” (Samuel Armas, 2011)

I leave it up to you to decide what you want to believe, but please note:

I am not using this photograph to endorse any agenda or specific perspective. I am not using it to try to prove or argue anything - especially not from an anti-abortion/pro-life standpoint. I'm posting it because I found it interesting, because I like the photograph, and because I want to discuss it.

[caption id="attachment_1960" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Samuel Alexander Armas, 1999"][/caption]

- Candice