Professor Robert Edwards
Thirty years ago, Lesley Brown made headlines when she gave birth to her
daughter Louise, the world's first test tube baby.
As Lesley and her husband John celebrated the arrival of the child they
thought they would never have, scientist Professor Robert Edwards
celebrated
the success of a scientific breakthrough that would go on to give hope to
millions of childless couples worldwide and bring about the birth of well
in excess of three million children.
Lesley, whose fallopian tubes were blocked, had conceived Louise through
in vitro fertilisation, or IVF – a technique Professor Edwards pioneered
after a decade of research in his Cambridge University laboratory.
In 1968, Professor Edwards teamed up with gynaecologist Patrick Steptoe,
from Oldham, Greater Manchester. Together with their nurse-technician
Jean Purdy, they started work on their ultimate aim of a human pregnancy,
and began harvesting human eggs.
Opposition to their experiments started to grow, with accusations their
work was "unethical", "immoral" and "dehumanising". They struggled to
find a clinic from which they could consult, so they set up their own in
Oldham.
They found no shortage of desperate couples who were told they would
never have children. Professor Edwards frequently travelled between
Cambridge and Oldham, bringing freshly gathered eggs in a tube.
Progress was slow, and for years Edwards and Steptoe failed to achieve a
pregnancy due to problems that arose during the egg recovery process.
In 1976, as they were working on improved methods, they were approached
by the Browns, who had been told they would never conceive a child. Their
new approach to IVF was successful and on July 25,1978, healthy baby
Louise was born by caesarean section at Oldham And District General
Hospital.
Since then, Professor Edwards' discovery has helped millions of couples
have children, with more than 11,000 British women a year undergoing
treatment.
Scientists say it has paved the way for many groundbreaking scientific
developments, including embryo stem cell and regenerative therapies.
Now 83, Professor Edwards helped Louise Brown celebrate her 30th birthday
at a party in July this year. It was held at the Bourn Hall Clinic in
Cambridgeshire which was set up by Professor Edwards and Patrick Steptoe,
who died in 1988.
Also at the party were Louise's 20-month-old son Cameron and the families
of 30 IVF children – one born every year since 1978.
Professor Edwards says, "I am delighted to see that Louise has grown up
and has a family of her own, and to know that so many people have
benefited from IVF."