First Test Tube Baby

On July 25, 1978, Louise Joy Brown was born in England—the world’s first test tube baby. The result of ten years of research by doctors Steptoe and Edwards, in vitro fertilization, generated a baby from an embryo fertilizing outside the mother’s womb. This technique has resulted in thousands of healthy babies through in vitro fertilization since then!

Louise Brown, the first test tube baby in human history, was born in Bristol, England. It was the first conception outside the human body, on a laboratory plate, devised by researchers specializing in human reproduction, Patrick Steptoe and Robert Edwards. The arrival of the Englishwoman revolutionized the treatment of infertility, making it more accessible for countless mothers to realize their dream of having children. In vitro fertilization was a significant step taken by Medicine because it made it possible for doctors to overcome problems that were previously impossible, such as obstruction of the uterine tubes (in women) and low sperm count in men.