Lynlee Boemer Little American girl removed from her mother's womb for surgery and returned safely Country: Great Britain

The Miracle Baby: Linley Bomar
Margaret Bomar, a resident of Plano, Texas, faced a heartbreaking situation when she received the unsettling results of an ultrasound. Doctors had discovered something worrisome during the scan, and one of them approached Margaret with the news that her baby had a serious condition called sacrococcygeal teratoma. This common type of tumor in newborns occurs four times more frequently in girls than in boys and affects only about one in 30,000 to 70,000 births. In Linley's case, the tumor was posing a threat to her life as it was growing and obstructing blood flow to her heart, causing heart failure. Margaret recalls, "My daughter had very little chance. At 23 weeks, the tumor began to obstruct the blood flow to the heart, and her heart started to fail. The only chance of saving her was to remove the tumor. It could have saved my daughter's life." Considering the risks involved, Margaret and her husband made the difficult decision to proceed with the operation.

A Risky Operation
Linley's operation was performed when she was nearly 24 weeks old. The tumor had grown to almost the same size as the baby. The five-hour procedure involved making an incision in Margaret's uterus to reach the embryo. Linley was then carefully extracted and suspended in the air while the tumor was removed. Dr. Darrell Cass, co-director of the Texas Children's Fetal Center, explains, "Essentially, the fetus was outside, basically completely. All the amniotic fluid drained out, which actually looked pretty bad." During the operation, Linley's heart slowed down, but the medical team managed to stabilize her until most of the tumor was removed. She was then placed back in the uterus, which was stitched up to seal it as much as possible. Dr. Cass describes the procedure as a miracle, saying, "It's a miracle when you can open the uterus like that, as we did, and seal it all back and have it work like it did."

A Second Birth
After the successful operation, Linley was returned to the womb to continue her development. Margaret remained on bed rest, and twelve weeks later, she gave birth to Linley through a cesarean section at around 36 weeks of pregnancy. The tiny baby girl, named Linley Hope, weighed 2.4 kg at birth and underwent further examinations before being sent to the newborn nursery with other infants. Despite the challenges they faced, Margaret and her husband were overjoyed to have given their daughter a chance at life. Margaret reflects, "Essentially, my daughter was born a second time. I was willing to take any risk to give her a chance at life."

A Bright Future
Now, as Linley grows and thrives, her future looks promising. She has overcome the odds and is a testament to the resilience of the human spirit. Margaret's decision to undergo the risky operation has paid off, and she is grateful for the medical team who saved her daughter's life. With each passing day, Linley continues to defy the odds and inspire those around her with her strength and determination.