i was watching an episode of House on AXN the other day (which had the All American Rejects doing cameo in the opening!), about a rock & roll photographer who was five months pregnant and had a sudden stroke.

she had what was called the Maternal Mirror Syndrome, where the mother’s health mimics the distress level of the unborn baby. she suffered almost immediately from liver failure, kidney failure, jaundice, and basically, both their lives were threatened if the baby was not terminated.

House, being his practical, cynical self, tried to convince the mother to terminate her pregnancy and save herself, all the while insisting on referring to it as a “fetus” instead of “baby”, but the mother steadfastly refused and gave him two days to “fix it”.

so he performed a surgery on the baby in utero, cutting open the mother’s womb in the process, and here’s where time stopped, for Dr House and probably all the viewers of this episode (well, for me at least) – the baby’s tiny hand reached out of the womb, touched his finger, and squeezed it.

pretty much like this.

the difference is, this picture here was NOT staged or televised, but a real-life case where doctors performed a spina bifida corrective surgery in 1999 on a baby who was still in the womb, and from which this particular episode of House was based on.

the baby seems to be shaking the surgeon’s finger in gratitude, thanking him for saving his life, and testifying to his determination and strength to survive. wow.

so would you *still* call this being a “fetus”, then?

(ok ok, i found a clip on youtube.)

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