Popular TV Drama Depicts Real-Life Contact between Surgeon and Unborn Baby

Hilary White/AH : Apr 10, 2007
LifeSiteNews.net

Watch the YouTube clip from the show, then view the real-life photo.

The trademark skepticism of Dr. Gregory House—star of the popular TV drama House—may have been momentarily overruled by a tender meeting of the ordinarily unemotional surgeon and his tiny unborn patient, on a recent episode.

The storyline centered around a pregnant woman suffering from a rare, life-threatening condition brought on by her unborn baby's illness. The typically sarcastic and brash Dr. House sees abortion as the best solution, but the mother refuses to end her baby's life.

The only alternative is to perform very risky and delicate surgery on the baby, and return it to the womb. During the operation, however, the baby is shown reaching from the womb and grasping the finger of a visibly bewildered Dr. House. To view this clip from the show on YouTube, CLICK HERE.

The amazing reality of the episode is that a similar incident actually did take place, and a pre-born baby really did reach from the womb and grasp the finger of his surgeon.

According to a report by LifeSiteNews, baby Samuel Armas—yet unborn—had his spina bifida condition repaired by a surgeon back in 1999. During the surgery, Samuel did reach out from the incision in the womb to curl his tiny hand around Dr. Joseph P. Bruner's finger. (Photo credit: Michael Clancy 12/9/99)

Veteran photographer, Michael Clancy, who snapped the amazing picture, now offers this moving photo to pro-life groups free-of-charge. He explains, "During a spina bifida corrective procedure at twenty-one weeks in utero, Samuel thrusts his tiny hand out of the surgical opening of his mother's uterus. As the doctor lifts his hand, Samuel reacts to the touch and squeezes the doctor's finger. As if testing for strength, the doctor shakes the tiny fist. Samuel held firm. At that moment, I took this 'Fetal Hand Grasp' photo."