Robert Edwards, a British physiologist, is often called the “father” of IVF (aka, “test tube babies”, a term that has gone out of vogue though is still remembered by many.) To honor his achievements that have allowed so many couples and individuals to become mothers and fathers, he was recently given a special award – the Nobel Prize for Medicine.
Edwards began working on IVF in the 50s and continued to hone it throughout his career despite huge controversies surrounding the treatment. Today, IVF has become a standard procedure in fertility clinicsaround the world from Australia to Hong Kong.
Upon giving Edwards his Nobel Prize, the Nobel Prize committee noted that:
“His achievements have made it possible to treat infertility, a medical condition afflicting a large proportion of humanity including more than 10 percent of all couples worldwide…”
The first baby born via IVFwas the UK’s Louise Brown, whose date of birth is July, 1978. Ironically, in 2006, Brown gave birth herself, though she didn’t use fertility drugs or processes.
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