In 1978, the first in-vitro fertilization baby - Louise Brown - was born to a couple that had been trying to conceive for nine years and had thought it would never happen due to blocked fallopian tubes. Thirty two years later, over 4 million couples have used IVF to successfully conceive and become parents. And finally, this year British biologist Robert G. Edwards - pioneer of IVF - is being recognized with the Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine.
Professor Edwards spent 20 years determining how human eggs matured and which hormones regulated maturation. He discovered when human eggs could be fertilized and when they could be transfered back to the uterus. He and gynecologist Patrick Steptoe preformed the first IVF procedure on Lesley and John Brown. IVF had been tried on people before, but never before resulted in a successful pregnancy. But because of the work of Robert Edwards, Lesley and John Brown were able to become pregnant and parent a child. They and all the subsequent IVF parents have Edwards to thank for their babies...its about time he was recognized for this stupendous achievement!
So, from me and everyone else in the TTC community... Congratulations, Professor Edwards!
Read more about Robert Edwards and the nobel prize on the Seattle Times Website.
