The first baby was born in test tubes - that day, now

40 years ago, the first baby in vitro was born in controversy. To date, in vitro fertilization has helped more than 6.5 million people in this world.

On the day of its birth, July 25, 1978, her mother, Lesley Brown - was taken to the caesarean section at the hospital in the dark, with only a flashlight illuminating the street. Only a few employees knew who she was, and Louise's parents did not want others to recognize her and attract media attention.

Louise's birth was kept secret. Even the first time her father, John Brown, was carrying his daughter at Oldham General Hospital (Manchester, England) also under the supervision of the police, who were full of outside corridors.

That's because Louise was the first 'born in vitro' child in the world.

Brown couple with Louise - the first child born in test tube.(Photo: People).

More precisely, she was the first child born with in vitro fertilization (IVF) . According to the development of science and technology, up to now, about 6.5 million people have been born through this method. However, in 1978, this was just a test method, and Dr. Mike Macnamee, director of the world's first IVF center - Bourn Hall in Cambridge, England - believes Louise 'is really a miracle. '.

IVF - the miracle of medicine

10 years before Louise was born, gynecologist Patrick Steptoe and physiologist Robert Edwards began working together. Their skills complement each other perfectly: Edwards found a way to fertilize eggs in the laboratory and Steptoe developed a method to get eggs from the mother's ovaries.

They failed hundreds of times, until she met Lesley Brown, Louise's mother. After 9 years of being unable to have a child - Ms Lesley had a fallopian tube and still could not have a baby after a failed operation, the Browns decided to try the new method, although the chance of success was only 'one in a million'. , because of the desire for children to burn.

In October 1977, fertilized eggs were implanted in Lesley's uterus, and she was successfully pregnant. Nine months later, Louise was born. This is the historical achievement of medicine, so much so that Lesley's death had to be recorded - with the consent of the government - to have evidence that Louise was actually born by Mrs. Lesley.

Even before being hugged by her mother for the first time, Louise had to go through 60 different tests to make sure she was ' perfectly normal'.

The Lesley technique was of course different from modern times, but it was a respectable step for medicine. After Steptoe and Edwards found a way to fertilize eggs, they soon limited the number of embryos implanted in the mother's body, avoiding too many pregnancies.

The development of cryogenic technology in the mid-80s of the twentieth century allowed doctors to implant one or two embryos into the mother, then freeze the remaining embryos for future use, to help the mother. No need to go through the process of clicking and sucking eggs again.

As ultrasound technology develops, doctors can anesthetize the mother to remove the eggs with a probe during a mild anesthesia, instead of using the same laparoscopy method. Techniques in the late 1980s made a big difference in the treatment of male infertility, by directly injecting single sperm into eggs.

The birth of Louise marked an important step of medicine.(Photo: Alamy).

Those foundational steps made the success rate of each IVF episode 10% in the early 1980s, when Dr. Mcnamee started mixing eggs with sperm on a petri dish, up to 40%. Since Louise was born in 1978, about 6.5 million people worldwide have been born through IVF. However, when it was first announced, this method was controversial.

Out of natural law?

Louise Brown is called 'the century child' by some and is considered by some to be 'moral disgust'. Of course, Louise was not the one who was criticized for morality - she was just an innocent infant. Instead, it is the doctors who implement this method that are condemned. Theologians claim that IVF is a 'natural' approach, and biological ethics outlines risks for mothers and children. Pope Francis said that this method makes children 'a right instead of a gift' and 'playing with life'. The Vatican also said that this event ' could bring terrible consequences for humanity'.

However, in August 1978, Cardinal Luciani - who soon became Pope John Paul I - suddenly refused to criticize Louise's parents for using the IVF method, claiming that they were simply want to have children. Later, Louise said: 'That helps reduce negative things others say. My mother received many letters, mostly positive, but there were also some that expressed hatred. They received a box from the US with broken test tubes, fake blood and a fake embryo inside. The box was accompanied by a threat that the person who sent it would come to see my parents'. There are rumors that Louise has supernatural abilities, such as reading the minds of others or teleporting.

The controversy surrounding Louise's birth is understandable. After all, this is a completely new way for infertile couples to have children. But the child is not fertilized in the mother's womb, but begins life in a test tube. The different environment raises fears that the embryo will develop abnormally. Within a decade, actual medical data about IVF erased these concerns. IVF is also gradually morally accepted, even with followers of Roman Catholicism.

Louise's life

Today, the highly controversial method of 40 years ago has become a part of life. Louise's birth could be a miracle, but she lived a normal life, like a normal person - what her mother wanted. She works as an office worker in a transport unit while her husband works as a doorkeeper at a hotel. She has two children going to school, with a house full of pets.

She talked to her husband about her birth several months after starting dating. It wasn't anything new to him: he lived in the neighborhood with Louise when she was young, and was seven years older than her. When she was taken home by her parents from the hospital, the children in the area gathered outside her home and said, 'The baby's home for home'. Her husband is among those children.

She is practically nurtured like normal children. Louise said: 'I feel that even though I am her child, she must share me with the world. She protected me, but not too much. I don't think they will raise me in another way if I give birth naturally '. Her family traveled to many countries during Louise's early years, but when she reached school age, the family only received interviews suggested by Edwards and Steptoe.

Louise learned something special about her birth on the first day of school at the age of 4, when her parents showed her a video: 'They said I was born slightly different and told me in advance'. Her parents were right: people talked about Louise at school. She remembers: 'I always have a chubby body, and they often tell me how to fit in the test tube. But they are not malicious, of course there will be talk because it was a really unusual thing at the time. I never pay attention to being called the first child in a test tube. Today, no one knows how their classmates were born. '

Four years after Louise was born, her sister Natalie became the 20th born by IVF, but they didn't say much about it. She said: 'We have a normal life, just add IVF. We have interviews and photographs, but life at home has nothing to do with IVF '.

In May 1999, Natalie became the baby born in the first test tube to give birth. Her conception and childbirth are completely natural, eliminating the concern that girls born with IVF will not be able to become pregnant as usual. In 2006, Louise also gave birth to a baby boy and later had another baby boy, completely natural. Her father died before Louise gave birth to her first baby two weeks, and her mother died at the age of 64.

Louise and her sister naturally have children and live a simple, happy life.(Photo: Daily Mail).

Louise said she really felt that being born was a privilege: 'It's great to think it all started with my parents, Patrick and Bob. Many people told my parents that, if not for my parents, they would never have children. '

The future of IVF

According to Dr. Macnamee, the chances of IVF success will increase in the future, and he hopes to see IVF's success rate reach 60% before retirement. One of the promising areas is to discover how embryos cling to the uterus when implanted - the reason many people believe is IVF's success.

The controversy surrounding the IVF method since Louise was born has been virtually eliminated, but many methods of supporting new reproduction, such as pregnant women or children of 3 people (use two eggs and one sperm to remove gene removal) still receives criticism in the world. However, Louise is still optimistic about the future and thinks that only when you are in the situation of trying to have children can you understand. She said: 'People told me that' science is only that good ', but as long as those medical advances are used to help people - and for medical reasons - I fully support household '.