Jacksonville couple prepares to travel to Houston for rare fetal surgery

A Jacksonville couple is preparing to travel to Houston for a rare in-utero surgery two weeks after they learned of their baby girl's birth defect.

Bradley Vina's wife Yulia is 23 weeks pregnant with their first child together. They named her Yuliana.

They learned Yuliana has spina bifida, a birth defect in which a baby's spinal cord fails to develop properly, during an appointment approximately two weeks ago.

Spina bifida occurs in 3.4 out of every 10,000 live births in the U.S.

There is no cure for the developmental defect, where the spine is improperly formed and the spinal cord is open to and fused with the skin.

Yulia's doctor recommended they consider in-utero surgery for Yuliana.

The rare surgery involves closing the spinal defect before birth by performing the surgery while the baby is still in the womb.

Yulia met the criteria for the surgery and the couple quickly made plans to travel to Houston.

Yulia will have the surgery at Texas Woman and Children's Fetal Center, one of the few centers in the country that offers the fetal surgery, when she's 25 weeks pregnant.

Vina said he was told the surgery has only been performed at the center about 30 times.

The couple plans to leave for Houston on Saturday so Yulia can undergo tests.

Vina said they'll have to stay in Houston for three months or more.

He started a GoFundMe account to raise money for the surgery and the couple's living expenses in Houston.

Vina said any extra money not used for the couple's expenses will be donated to research for spina bifida.

"We are putting faith in God to get us through this journey," Vina said.

Cox Media Group