On July 25, 1978, the first IVF child was born in Manchester. Louise Joy Brown was healthy, she was born just before midnight by Caesarean section. The birth of a girl caused a worldwide stir, and the media quickly hailed Louise as the first “test-tube baby”.
- Doctors worked on the method of in vitro fertilization for 10 years before the first pregnancy occurred
- Louise Joy Brown, the first “test tube baby”, is 43 today
- The in vitro method is widely used all over the world. It is estimated that about 8 million children were born thanks to it
- You can find more such stories on the TvoiLokony home page
The first child born thanks to IVF
Louise’s mom Lesley had suffered from infertility for years due to obstructed fallopian tubes. For nine years she had been trying to have a baby. At the end of 1977, she underwent in vitro fertilization, which was then considered an experimental method. Her egg was combined with her husband’s sperm in a laboratory. A few days later, the embryo was implanted into the uterus. It worked – Lesley was pregnant.
Robert Edwards and Patrick Steptoe are doctors who have achieved this success. They have been working on the IVF method for over a decade. Before the first successful fertilization, they carried out about 80 attempts to implant the embryo in other women.
In 2010, Edwards received the Nobel Prize in Medicine and Physiology for developing in vitro fertilization.
When the media found out about the unusual pregnancy, the Brown family found the candlestick. The birth of Louise made headlines around the world. This sparked a great debate on IVF – the legal and ethical reasons for an innovative method that has given millions of couples the chance to have children. For some it was a medical miracle, for others it was against the laws of nature.
Louise was healthy, she weighed 2600 g. She was subjected to many tests. From the moment she was born, the media followed almost every step she took. People were distrustful of the new method and waited to see if the baby was okay.
The Browns have a second daughter – Natalie – who was also born thanks to IVF. Both Louise and Natalie already have children of their own who were conceived naturally.
Today Louise is 43 years old with two children. She worked at the post office and as a kindergarten teacher. He is a frequent contributor to the media and supports education on IVF and infertility treatment.
Currently, in vitro fertilization is one of the main treatments for infertility. It is estimated that about 8 million children were born thanks to it. In Poland, the first child was born in 1987.
Medonet Market offers a package of tests diagnosing male and female infertility
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