Click on the picture to enlarge.

This picture is that of 21-week-old unborn baby, Samuel Alexander Armas, who is being operated on by a surgeon named Joseph Bruner. Samuel was fortunate, as these surgeon hands were friendly.

Samuel was diagnosed with spina bifida and would not have survived if he had been removed from his mother's womb. Dr. Bruner's performs these special operations while the baby is still in the womb.

During the procedure, the doctor removes the uterus via C-section and makes a small incision to operate on the baby. As Dr. Bruner completed the surgery on little Samuel, the little guy reached his tiny, but fully developed, hand through the incision and firmly grasped the surgeon's finger.

Dr. Bruner was reported as saying that when his finger was grasped, it was the most emotional moment of his life, and that for an instant during the procedure he was just frozen, totally immobile. The editors titled the picture, "Hand of Hope."

Little Samuel's mother, Julie Armas, said they "wept for days" when they saw the picture. She said, "The photo reminds us my pregnancy isn't about disability or an illness, it's about a little person." Samuel was born in perfect health.