In 1978, an
almost century-old dream came true with the birth of Louise Joy Brown, the
world’s first successful IVF baby, in Oldham, England. This achievement
resulted from the tireless efforts of obstetrician-gynecologist Patrick Steptoe
and physiologist Robert Edwards, who had been working on IVF for over a decade.
Their breakthrough was met with mixed reactions: it was celebrated by childless
parents and criticized by some church leaders who accused them of "playing
God." In 2010, Edwards was awarded the Nobel Prize for this groundbreaking
work, by which time over four million "test tube babies" had been
born.
Historical
Foundations of IVF
The idea of in vitro fertilization (IVF) began to take shape at Cambridge
University in 1891, when Walter Heape successfully transplanted embryos into
rabbits, resulting in a litter of six. In 1934, Gregory Pincus and E.V. Enzmann
proposed that mammalian eggs could undergo normal development outside the body.
This concept was later explored in Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World
(1932). The first successful IVF experiment in mammals took place in 1959, when
M.C. Chang fertilized rabbit eggs outside the body at the Worcester Foundation
for Experimental Biology.
The IVF Procedure
Though IVF might seem straightforward in theory, it took Steptoe and Edwards
ten years to perfect the process. Normally, women produce a single egg per
month, but IVF requires fertility drugs to induce "superovulation,"
leading to the release of multiple eggs. These eggs are then retrieved from the
ovaries through follicular aspiration. If a woman is unable to produce eggs,
donated eggs can be used. The sperm and eggs are mixed in a laboratory dish for
fertilization, or sperm can be directly injected into the egg (ICSI). The
fertilized egg divides and is allowed to grow for 3-5 days before being
implanted in the uterus.
Success Rates of
IVF
While IVF has made significant strides, its success rate varies based on the
woman’s age. For women under 35, the live birth rate is 41–43 percent, while
for those over 40, it drops to 13–18 percent.
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| In this digital illustration, a glass needle injects sperm into an egg extracted from a woman’s ovary during IVF . |
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