On July 25, 1978, Louise Joy Brown, the world's first baby conceived via in-vitro fertilization (IVF), was born at Oldham and District General Hospital in Manchester, England, to Lesley and Peter Brown. Louise was delivered by caesarean section just before midnight and she weighed five pounds, 12 ounces.
Lesley Brown had infertility issues due to blocked fallopian tubes. In November 1977, she underwent the experimental IVF procedure, where a mature egg was fertilized with her husband's sperm in a lab and implanted into her uterus. British gynecologist Patrick Steptoe and scientist Robert Edwards, who had been working on this for a decade, performed the procedure. The pregnancy drew global media attention and raised ethical questions.
The Browns later had a second daughter, Natalie, also through IVF. In May 1999, Natalie became the first IVF baby to give birth naturally. Now, IVF is a common infertility treatment, with hundreds of thousands of children conceived through the procedure worldwide.
Other key events on this day
1. Ocean liners collided off Nantucket - 1956
2. Dancer and spy Mata Hari sentenced to death - 1917
3. World War II: Operation Spring Occurred - one of Canada's bloodiest days with 18,444 casualties recorded and 5,021 killed - 1944
4. Israeli airstrike killed leader of Islamic Jihad's military wing, Salah Abu Hassanein - 2014
5. Jordan and Israel ended 46-year state of war - 1994
6. A Concorde jet crashed outside of Paris after takeoff killing 113 passengers - 2000
7. Benito Mussolini captured and dismissed as Premier of Italy during WW II - 1943
8. German mark (currency) devalued to 600,000 Dmark=$1 - 1923
9. France declared war on England - 1689
10. Count Alfonso I of Portugal became King - 1139
Comments