p h i l a m e d s o c .o rg Surgeons hold the tiny hand of Roberto Rodriguez Jr. while he is still in his mother's womb. Roberto was the Center for Fetal Diagnosis and Treatment's first fetal surgery patient. Surgeons perform a delicate procedure to repair spina bifida. Fetal surgeons open the mother's uterus and close the opening in the baby's back while still in the womb. Roberto Rodriguez Jr. at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia's annual Fetal Family Reunion. Roberto was the first ever fetal surgery patient at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. In 1995, he underwent a prenatal procedure to remove a lung lesion. N. Scott Adzick, MD, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia's Surgeon in Chief, with Roberto Rodriguez Jr., the Center for Fetal Diagnosis and Treatment's first fetal surgery patient. Spring 2018 : Philadelphia Medicine 15https://philamedsoc.org/