The parents of a 5-month-old boy are speaking out after their son underwent what doctors say was the first of it’s kind in-utero surgery in the United States.
The groundbreaking procedure was performed at just 26 weeks of pregnancy, allowing their son, Theo French, to be born full term and leave the hospital just days after birth.
"We were super anxious and scared and worried," Theo's mother, Maisie Savage, said in an interview that aired Wednesday on "Good Morning America." "It is just a really difficult time for us as a family to process what the start of Theo's life was looking like it was going to be."
Theo was diagnosed with complex gastroschisis during his 20-week ultrasound. The condition occurs when a baby's intestines develop outside the body through an opening in the abdominal wall, according to Dr. Sundeep Keswani, associate surgeon-in-chief at Texas Children's Hospital and principal investigator of the clinical trial.
"Gastroschisis is the most common congenital abdominal wall abnormality. It's when babies are born with all of their intestines outside of their body," Keswani told "GMA."
Theo's diagnosis was more severe than a typical case. Babies with complex gastroschisis can require months in the neonatal intensive care unit, multiple surgeries and, in some cases, may not survive, according to Texas Children's Hospital.
When they received the diagnosis, Savage and Theo's father, Josh French, were also told about a first-of-its-kind clinical trial that could repair the defect before their son was born.
The London-based couple traveled to Texas Children's Hospital in Houston, where baby Theo was enrolled as the third candidate of the pioneering FDA clinical trial and where the procedure was performed.
Keswani said the surgery is typically performed at around 26 weeks of pregnancy using a minimally invasive approach.
"Instead of making a big incision into the uterus to get to the baby, we use this tiny keyhole surgery and then carefully push the intestine back into the abdomen and then close the abdominal wall," Keswani explained.
In-utero surgery was first pioneered at Texas Children's for spina bifida, and some in utero procedures are performed for heart ailments. Doctors are hopeful this surgery opens up new realm of medicine to stop progression of disease, before birth.
After the procedure, Theo remained in the womb, where he continued to grow and heal before being born full term.
"He was delivered at term, at normal weight, came into this world just like any other baby, started breastfeeding, and by two days was on full feed," Keswani said. "By day three, [he was] discharged from the hospital."
Now 5 months old, Theo is healthy and doing well at home, according to his parents.
"He's such a fantastic little man," Josh French said. "He is doing everything that a normal baby should be doing."
