Patient Stories

Glenn Family Finds Hope Far From Home
During a sonogram at 15 weeks, Jeanie and Shaun Glenn of Seward, Alaska, found out their baby’s heart was off center. Additional tests eventually revealed congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) with the liver, spleen, stomach and a portion of intestines all squeezed above the diaphragm into the chest cavity.

Groundbreaking Procedure for Severe CDH
When Jenny and Tawa Torry lost their first child to birth defects caused by congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH), they never dreamed they’d have to face the same heartbreaking possibility again.

One Team, One Miracle, One Daughter
Like so many expecting parents, Amy and Joe Krese went into their 20-week ultrasound with a mix of excitement and apprehension. They were overjoyed to find they were having a girl but also learned their daughter had a bilateral CDH.

14 Years Later, Miracle Baby is Just a Normal Teen

Lifesaving Surgical Care for Patient with HLHS

Extraordinary Outcome for Devastating LUTO Case
Before Luke Vela was even born, his big brother nicknamed him Tuff because of the challenges he’d already overcome.
Eli's story: Traveling to Texas for a lifesaving fetal surgery
On Oct. 31, baby Eli will be five months old, but his journey getting here was nothing short of a miracle. It all started during Lacey Prejean's 12-week pregnancy appointment.

God's answered prayer: Olivia
At their 18-week ultrasound, expecting parents Ashley and Jason learned their daughter, Olivia, had signs of spina bifida. Learn more about their journey at Texas Children’s Fetal Center and how the Fetal Team saved their daughter’s life with this innovative fetal surgery.

Canezaro Family first to undergo successful two-port fetoscopic spina bifida repair in U.S.
When Althea Canezaro found out she was pregnant, she was thrilled to give her son, Blaine, a sibling. But, her 22-week ultrasound revealed something she didn’t expect - spina bifida.

Less Invasive Approach to Fetal Spina Bifida Repair
Julia Wallace vividly remembers the moment a routine ultrasound revealed her unborn daughter had myelomeningocele, a type of spina bifida.

The Future of Healing for Neural Tube Defects
Like most first-time parents, Johnna and Adam Kerres of Rock Island, Illinois, were excited to mark every milestone of their pregnancy. Until, that is, an ultrasound at 18 weeks revealed their baby boy Everett had spina bifida.

Fetal Surgery Removes Grapefruit-Sized Sacrococcygeal Teratoma
Nine years ago, at their 20-week ultrasound check, Keri and Chad McCartney were thrilled to learn their fifth and final child would be a girl. But that excitement quickly turned to fear.

Leo's Story: Diagnosis and Treatment of congenital heart defect, Tetralogy of Fallot
Expecting parents Rachel and Levi Strauss were heartbroken when they discovered their unborn child, Leo, was diagnosed with a fetal heart defect, Tetralogy of Fallot with pulmonary atresia and a ventricular septal defect.

Burroughs Family evens the odds with TTTS treatment
When Julie Burroughs went in for an ultrasound of her twins at 16 weeks, she was shocked to learn that they were not growing properly due to twin-twin transfusion syndrome (TTTS).