Dr. Oluyinka Olutoye is the Nigerian doctor who cut a woman’s baby out of her womb at 23 weeks old, successfully operated on it and took out a tumor, then placed the baby back in the mother’s womb. The baby was later delivered healthy and naturally on time at 36 weeks.
It is not surprising that blacks have continued to perform creditably in various professions in the world. Africans are credited with giving birth to civilization, mathematics, and science.
Dr. Olutoye performed one of the most complex surgeries in modern medicine: he partially removed the baby from her mother’s womb, operated on her tiny body, and then returned her safely to continue developing. Weeks later, she was born healthy and strong.
Apart from being a medical breakthrough, such is a powerful tribute to compassion, innovation, and the African excellence in global medicine.
Prof. Olutoye was born in Lagos to the family of Major General (rtd) Olufemi Olutoye (the traditional ruler of Ido Ani in Ose Local Government Area of the state), and Prof Omotayo Olutoye on January 15 1967. He has five siblings, two brothers and three sisters. It had been his childhood dream to become a medical doctor.
Prof. Olutoye’s quest for excellence began at an early age. As a son of a soldier and an academic mother, he was introduced to a life that placed emphasis on excellence during his formative years. He had his primary education at the Lagos University Staff School and his secondary education at King’s College Lagos.
He received his medical degree (MBChB) from Obafemi Awolowo University in Ile-Ife, in 1988. He was the Valedictorian, in his graduating Class at the Obafemi Awolowo University Medical School. His journey to surgery was influenced by Dr. Christian Bernard who performed the first human to human heart transplant. It was when he read the biography of Bernard that he got to realize that one could carry out a surgery on a fetus and return it to the womb.
After his medical education in Nigeria, he relocated to the United States for further educational opportunities. He started his postgraduate education in pediatrics at the Howard University General Hospital. He received his PhD in Anatomy from Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia, in 1996. He completed his residency in general surgery at the Medical College of Virginia Hospital, Virginia Commonwealth University, and had his fellowship in pediatric surgery at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and the University Of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in Philadelphia, USA.
He is a member of the International Foetal Medicine and Surgery Society, a Fellow of the Surgical Section of the American Academy of Pediatrics and American College of Surgeons, and also a Fellow of the West African College of Surgeons and a certified practitioner by the American Board of Surgery in general surgery and pediatric surgery.
Prof. Olutoye has specialized clinical expertise in foetal and neonatal surgery, with specific interest in congenital diaphragmatic hernia, lung malformation, chest wall deformities, omphalocele, gastroschisis, Nissen fundoplication and complex wounds. His research interests also include understanding the role of the foetal inflammatory response in scarless foetal wound healing, using animal models of congenital anomalies in utero correction of severe congenital malformations, and the study of endothelial-leukocyte and endothelial-tumour cell interactions.
Prof. Olutoye is a beneficiary of the James IV traveling fellowship of the Association for Academic Surgery. The prestigious association of surgeons was established in 1957 for surgeons from around the world to be brought together for exchange of ideas and methods as regards surgery. He was described by the association as someone “who has made outstanding contributions to the art and science of surgery.” Indeed, his success and contribution to Texas Children’s Foetal Centre at the Texas Children’s Hospital Hospital has been phenomenal.
Prof. Olutoye has received much recognition for performing and mastering ground-breaking exit surgical procedure. Exit procedure or ex utero intra partum treatment procedure is a specialized surgical delivery procedure used to deliver babies who have airway compression.
In February 2015, he was one out of three Nigerian medical doctors that successfully separated conjoined twins in a surgery that made the headlines in the American media and the world. The twins, Knatalye Hope and Adeline Faith Mata, were successfully separated through which him and his colleagues are still being celebrated for this feat.
In 2016, Prof Olutoye’s brilliance and gifted hands became a global phenomenon when he led a team of doctors in the surgery that saved a 23-week-old foetus from a life-threatening tumour. The team brought the baby (Lynlee Hope) out of the womb at 23 weeks old and removed a large tumor (Sacrococcygeal Teratoma) growing on her tail bone, after which they returned the foetus to its mother’s womb to complete the full gestation period of nine months. This feat has generated a worldwide recognition of the baby that was born twice.
Prof. Olutoye, an alumnus of Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, has been bestowed with the winner of the 2008 Great Ife Alumni Award for Excellence in the Sciences category, in recognition of his outstanding achievements in the area of human foetal surgery, and exceptional contributions to his chosen career of Medicine. He has also, by this recognition, been inducted into the Great Ife Alumni Hall of Distinction.
His other awards and honours include: 2012 Denton A. Cooley Surgical Innovator Award (Texas Children’s Hospital); Academy of Distinguished Educators (Baylor College of Medicine) Molecular Surgeon Research Achievement Award (Michael E. DeBakey Department of Surgery); Mark A. Wallace 2014 Catalyst Leader of the Year (Texas Children’s Hospital); and induction into Academy of Distinguished Educators (Baylor College of Medicine).
He is currently the Surgeon-in-Chief at the Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, United States as well as a Professor of Surgery, Pediatrics, and Obstetrics, Baylor College of Medicine.
In February 2022, President Muhammadu Buhari conferred the Nigerian National Order of Merit (NNOM) Award on Prof. Olutoye for distinguishing himself in the field of medicine. He is married to Prof. Olutoyin Olutoye and blessed with two children.
