Some Americans of sufficient age who have followed the news very closely may recall the name Louise Brown as belonging to the first baby known to have been born by in vitro fertilization.
This breakthrough took place in Oldham, England, in 1978. The new medical procedure has, since that time, helped more than a million infertile families have a child of their own.
The procedure was developed by a gynecologist, Patrick Steptoe, and two MDs at Cambridge: Barry Ravister and Robert Edwards.
Using a laparoscope, an egg is removed from the woman's ovary and is mixed in the lab with the father's sperm and then placed in a solution for two and a half days. The fertilized egg is placed back in the mother's uterus and if all goes well, voila! A baby shows up nine months later.
Brown, now grown, has worked as a mail clerk or carrier and in a daycare center. She married in 2004.
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