World’s first test tube baby was born on this day in 1978, know more about her

World’s first baby to be conceived via in vitro fertilisation (IVF) was born on July 25, 1978, at Oldham and District General Hospital in Manchester, UK. Born to parents Lesley and Peter Brown, Louise Joy Brown was delivered shortly before midnight by caesarean section and weighed in at five pounds, 12 ounces. While today IVF is considered to be a mainstream medical treatment for infertility, back in 1978, the Browns had reportedly faced intense public scrutiny. 

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Before giving birth to the First IVF Baby, Lesley Brown had suffered years of infertility due to blocked fallopian tubes. It was in November 1977 that she underwent the then-experimental IVF procedure. The doctors removed a mature egg from one of her ovaries and combined n a laboratory dish with her husband’s sperm to form an embryo. The embryo was then implanted into her uterus a few days later. 

Lesley’s IVF doctors, British gynaecologist Patrick Steptoe and scientist Robert Edwards had begun their pioneering collaboration a decade earlier. Since 1978, hundreds of thousands of children around the world have been conceived through the procedure, for which the Browns faced criticism. Louise’s birth had made headlines across the globe and also raised legal and ethical questions. 

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Family archive unveiled in 2018 

Back in 2018, a family archive containing letters, gift, photos and newspaper clippings was also unveiled. The first couple to successfully undergo IVF held mementoes, including hospital appointment cards and correspondence after the birth of their daughter. The Browns donated the documents to Bristol Archives. 

Louise Brown, the first IVF baby, herself is now a mother-of-two. Louise’s sister, Natalie, is also an IVF baby, who was born several years later. Back in May 1999, Natalie also became the first IVF baby to give birth to a child of her own. The child conception was natural, easing some concerns that female IVF babies would be unable to get pregnant naturally. 

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