Spina Bifida

Spina bifida — the open back. A word that speaks of a gap, of a cleft where the firmest support in the human body should be: in the spine. During early embryonic development, long before birth, the so-called neural tube closes completely in most people — the delicate structure from which the spinal cord and vertebral canal later emerge. In spina bifida, this closing process remains incomplete. A small section of the axis that holds us upright stays open.

The medical perspective cites causes such as genetic predisposition, folic acid deficiency, and environmental factors. That is the part medicine can describe and treat. And that matters. But if you are reading this text because you yourself live with spina bifida — or because your child was born with it — other questions often arise as well. Quieter ones. Deeper ones. Questions that go beyond lab values and surgical reports.