Exploring Our Children’s Potentials

I saw this photo for the first time today.

It’s of a 21-week-old unborn baby named Samuel Alexander Armas. His hand, coming out of his mother’s uterus, firmly held on to the finger of his surgeon named Joseph Bruner.

I was so moved and I felt I should really share it here too on my blog.

Here’s the story behind it (quoted from the Net):

It was 1999, and a baby was diagnosed with spina bifida and would not survive if removed from his mother’s womb. Little Samuel’s mother, Julie Armas, is an obstetrics nurse in Atlanta. She knew of Dr. Bruner’s remarkable surgical procedure. Practicing at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, he performed this special operation while the baby was still in the womb.

During the procedure, the doctor removed the uterus via C-section and made a small incision to operate on the baby. During the surgery on little Samuel, this 21-week-old fetus reached his tiny, but fully developed, hand through the incision and firmly grasped the surgeon’s finger, … as if thanking the doctor for the gift of life.

Samuel’s mother said, “The photo reminds us my pregnancy isn’t about disability or an illness, it’s about a little person”

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In 2003, Samuel’s parents, testified before the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Science, Technology, and Space about the photo and their experience with in utero surgery. They were joined at the hearing by Dr. James Thorp(a maternal-fetal medicine specialist) and by Michael Clancy, the photographer who captured Samuel’s awe-inspiring grasp.

Michael described for the Senate hearing the details of his experience during the surgery:

“The tension could be felt in the operating room as the surgery began. The procedure would take place within the uterus, and no part of the child was to breach the surgical opening. The entire surgical procedure on the child was completed in one hour and 13 minutes. When it was over, the surgical team breathed a sigh of relief, as did I.

“As a doctor asked me what speed film I was using, out of the corner of my eye I saw the uterus shake, but no one’s hands were near it. It was shaking from within.

“Suddenly, an entire arm thrust out of the opening, then pulled back until just a little hand was showing. The doctor reached over and lifted the hand, which reacted and squeezed the doctor’s finger.

“As if testing for strength, the doctor shook the tiny fist. Samuel held firm. I took the picture. Wow!”

Click HERE to read the full story.

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[In 2009, nine year old Samuel, far right, with his parents and younger siblings]

Here’s another related article on Foxnews.com, … it’s on Samuel who’s nearly ten years old in May 2009.

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Apparently, there’s been a debate about whether the photo is real or just a hoax. You may read a little more about it here – http://michaelclancy.com/, where the photographer gave his side of the story online.

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Here’s my personal thought :

Till today, many people still feel they have the right to ‘abort’ their pregnancy because it’s ‘their body’ and that there’s ‘no life’ anyway, … especially not when it’s only 21 weeks!

But here, I see God allowing this miraculous incident captured and shown to the world, as a confirmation that there IS life inside the womb that’s worthy of our protection because it is a soul and every child is indeed GIVEN to us by God.

Our life, inside and outside the womb, is in God’s loving care, and IF God chooses to do something, however impossible it may seem, HE can. May all glory be to God.

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PS: All photos above are from the Net.

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Added, from another article :

Julie Armas told the committee she and her husband were informed at least half of all babies with spina bifida – a disease that damages the spinal cord – are aborted.

“But abortion was never an option for us,” she said.

“We wanted people to know that there is an educated, professional couple out there who love and value their child even though he is ‘defective’ by society’s definition,” Armas emphasized. “No matter what Samuel’s outcome is, we know that God has allowed him to impact others with a photograph of his tiny, unborn hand.”

Samuel’s father, Alex, said he and his wife never considered such a terrible diagnosis could lead to “blessings.”

“But the way things have worked out, the photograph is the least of this, as far as we are concerned,” he said. “Our whole reason for deciding to agree to the photograph has been fulfilled on a larger scale than we could ever have dreamed. People have found out about the surgery, and we are happy with that.”