ARVADA, Colo. — When Shannon Landry Dawson and Noel Dawson learned at their 20-week prenatal checkup that their son had been diagnosed with myelomeningocele, the most severe form of spina bifida, they faced one of the toughest decisions of their lives.
Today, their two-year-old son, Theo, is a thriving toddler who runs, jumps and chases rabbits, thanks to a groundbreaking fetal surgery performed before he was born.
The Arvada couple paid for genetic testing that showed no issues, making the diagnosis during their anatomy scan particularly shocking.
“I was shocked at first. I mean, we did pay for the blood test that said everything was fine going into the 20-week ultrasound,” Noel Dawson said. “I just remember going down to the car being a shock, just being like, thank you, Doctor, you know, walking out of the office, going down to the car, just sitting with Shannon and just crying in the car.”…