What is in vitro fertilization? It is the joining of woman’s egg and a man’s sperm in a laboratory dish. After fertilization it is then transferred to the woman’s womb.
On 25th July, 1978 the world’s first test tube baby was born. Louis Joy Brown, an English woman is known as the first human to be born through IVF. She was born briefly before midnight at the district general hospital in Oldham. She was delivered by cesarean section because her mother, Lesley Brown, was suffering through toxaemia. When Louis was born she weighed 5 pounds, 12 ounces (2.6 kg). Her parents were trying to beget a baby for the past 9 years but failed due to the blocked fallopian tube.
Lesley Brown underwent a procedure on 10th November 1977, which was invented by Patrick Steptoe and Robert Edwards. This procedure later came to be known as IVF. Robert Edwards was awarded with Nobel Prize in 2010 for his work.
The doctor in charge, Dr Patrick Steptoe said “All examinations showed that the baby is quite normal. The mother’s condition after delivery was also excellent.”
In 1999, Louis Brown celebrated her 21st birthday and by that time around 3, 00,000 women had conceived through IVF. Louis’s younger sister, Natalie, was also given birth through IVF four years later. Natalie was the first test tube baby to give birth naturally.
Though the media has given Louis the name as the first test tube baby, the egg and sperm were actually placed in the Petri dish for incubation.
Today, for treating infertility, In vitro fertilization is the most conventional medical treatment. This process has turned out to be life changing for many people. Many couples have admitted that the process can be very strenuous. But the level of stress depends on your own body fitness, the number of cycles you go through and how intense is your interaction with your partner.
Just imagine how many lives have been changed because of IVF. So many children have been given through IVF. These children have brought so much love and happiness to the couples who have been yearning it for years.
Aishwarya Anand
Image Source: The Viewspaper