Doctors successfully performed surgery on an unborn baby in the womb

Doctors in the US have successfully performed one of the most complex surgical procedures in medical history. They operated on a baby still in the womb to correct a life-threatening birth defect, according to BBC reports.

It is reported that the expectant mother, Macie Savage, underwent the surgery at 26 weeks of pregnancy in Houston, USA. Currently, her son Theo is five months old and developing healthily.

During pregnancy, doctors diagnosed the child with gastroschisis . This is a rare birth defect where the intestines develop outside the body due to an incomplete abdominal wall. Expertsnoted that if left untreated, such a condition can pose a serious threat to the baby's life.

Using a laparoscopic approach with a partial opening of the mother's uterus, surgeons carefully placed the baby's intestines back into the abdominal cavity. Theo is recorded as the third baby in the world to undergo this innovative method.

Macie and her husband, Josh French, said they were initially devastated upon hearing about their child's defect. British doctors had prepared them for a difficult post-birth treatment process. Later, after complex gastroschisis was diagnosed, the family was referred to a medical center in Houston participating in a special clinical trial.

The preparation process for the surgery was carried out in several stages. First, Macie received a special Botox injection at the University Hospital Leuven in Belgium. This method helped relax the abdominal wall muscles during surgery. After that, she traveled to Texas, where the complex surgery was performed in November 2025.

"Recovery was not easy. But it was all worth it for my child's life," Macie shared, recalling her post-surgery memories.

Following the successful surgery, Theo was born via natural delivery in February 2026. He is currently growing up healthy.

Experts believe this procedure is a major milestone in treating birth defects before birth and could expand opportunities to save the lives of thousands of babies in the future.