Look at Us Now

In 1995, during a routine prenatal ultrasound, Felicia and Roberto Rodriguez received terrible news. The child Felicia was carrying had a huge growth in one lung — a rare, life-threatening condition. Their physician told them they had three options: Abort the pregnancy. Let the fetus die on its own. Or try to save the baby through fetal surgery, an innovative form of therapy available at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.

Determined to do everything possible to save their unborn child, the Rodriguezes traveled from their West Palm Beach, Fla., home to CHOP's newly opened Center for Fetal Diagnosis and Treatment, one of the few programs worldwide capable of treating birth defects in utero. After an extensive evaluation and counseling about the risks of fetal surgery, N. Scott Adzick, M.D., M.M.M., the Center's director and a pioneer in the field of fetal surgery, opened Felicia's uterus, removed the lesion that occupied a large portion of the fetus' left lung, then closed the womb to allow the pregnancy to continue to near-term gestation.

It was the first-ever fetal surgery at CHOP — and a resounding success. Thirteen weeks later, Roberto Rodriguez Jr. was born with a healthy set of lungs and nothing more than a scar to show for his revolutionary surgery.

"I see that scar every day when I wake up, and I'm grateful," says Roberto Jr., now a freshman in high school with dreams of becoming a professional baseball player.

More about The Center for Fetal
Diagnosis and Treatment

"Only 25 years ago, the concept of treating the fetus as a patient in its own right was considered a radical, futuristic idea — even in some very sophisticated scientific circles," Adzick says. "Today, the landscape is dramatically different."

2010 marked the Center's 15th anniversary. Like Roberto, it has grown in incredible ways, helping to establish fetal therapy as one of the most promising fields in medicine today, advancing groundbreaking treatments and offering a level of comprehensive care that simply doesn't exist elsewhere for the full spectrum of birth defects.

The Rodriguezes were among the first of more than 11,000 families from all 50 states and more than 50 countries, facing the impact of a prenatally diagnosed birth defect, to look to the Center as a beacon of hope and help. They have seen the program's growth firsthand at the annual Fetal Family Reunion, where attendance has swelled from fewer than 10 families in 1997 to more than 700 people this past year.

"It's phenomenal to see," Felicia says. "Now you can barely fit everybody in one photo frame."

In 2008, Roberto Jr. and his family participated in another major milestone at the Center, cutting the "umbilical cord" ribbon at the grand opening of the Lynne and William Garbose Family Special Delivery Unit, the world's first comprehensive birth facility for mothers carrying fetuses with known birth defects. Since then, more than 600 mothers have delivered in the unit.

"It's an exhilarating feeling to know that you've been a part of something so great," Felicia says. "Every day we're reminded of the miracle we were given."

Ever at the forefront of innovation, the Center team continues to improve prenatal surgical procedures, and to research new therapies that will potentially allow fetuses with life-limiting disorders such as sickle cell disease, hemophilia and spina bifida to come into the world healthy.

All this in just 15 years.

Adzick reflects: "Our 'birthday' is made special by all the birthdays we've been able to help families experience. Every day in our program, there is a sense of discovery and progress. I can hardly wait to see what we're doing at 21!"

To Believe is the inspiring story of fetal therapy, told by the CHOP clinicians and families who braved the unknown to help the unborn.

View To Believe now: fetalsurgery.chop.edu

Learn about the Center for Fetal Diagnosis
and Treatment at:
fetalsurgery.chop.edu