FOUNDERS DAY: 30 YEARS OF IVF
Louise Brown, the world's first 'test-tube' baby, joined IVF pioneer and Bourn Hall Clinic co-founder Robert Edwards to celebrate 30 years of IVF. Download the PDF here.
Bourn Hall 'babies' representing each of the years since Louise's birth in July 1978 gathered to mark 30 years of IVF. The clinic was established by IVF pioneers Steptoe and Edwards to develop the techniques now used by fertility
experts worldwide. Louise Brown's sister Natalie was conceived at Bourn Hall.
BOURN HALL BABIES REPRESENTING 30 YEARS OF IVF
- Louise Brown 1978
- Lesley Brown: "Being a grandparent was part of mine and my husband's dream. That's the reason we wanted children, because we wanted a family. There would be no family without IVF. Now I have children and grandchildren and it's wonderful. When I look at my grandchildren I just think how lucky I was that I was able to get the treatment and put all my problems right."
- Natalie Brown 1982
- Lesley Brown: "Being a grandparent was part of mine and my husband's dream. That's the reason we wanted children, because we wanted a family. There would be no family without IVF. Now I have children and grandchildren and it's wonderful. When I look at my grandchildren I just think how lucky I was that I was able to get the treatment and put all my problems right."
- Richard and Steven Rowe 1984
- Carol fell pregnant with twin sons Steven and Richard, now 24. "Once they were born, it was as if my hand had touched gold" she said."It was fabulous. "We joke about how we’ve got half price kids."
- Mathew Slocombe 1985
- "Initially Patrick Steptoe rejected me for IVF because he was concerned that the needle used for egg collection would pierce my bowel," recalls Lynne. "But I literally wouldn't take 'no' for an answer."
- James and Peter Arrowsmith 1986
- Doctors also suggested in vitro fertilisation (IVF) - a new technique at the time. So the Arrowsmiths turned to Bourn Hall clinic where they knew IVF pioneers Patrick Steptoe and Bob Edwards had had great success treating infertile couples.
- Sam Cheney 1987
- Three months later a doctor who could use ultrasound for retrieving eggs rather than laparoscopy joined the team. This time egg collection was successful.
- Izzy Raby 1988
- "I was really shocked when I discovered the damage caused by the IUD" said Lucy. "This was the 1980s and in vitro fertilisation (IVF) was thought of as very unnatural and a bit sci-fi."
- Louise Quarmby 1989
- Daughter Louise, 19, said: "I've always known that I'm an IVF baby."It does make me feel special.
"It makes me feel bad when I argue with my parents after everything they went through to have me."
- Elise Facer 1990
- With the boys she made medical history – it was the 1st live birth using frozen embryos. IVF was so new that when she went for her booking appointment the nurse had never heard of IVF!!
- Michael Pride 1991
- Frankie's son Michael, 17, plays front row in rugby and her son Charlie, 14, is a coxswain. But becoming a mother to her two "lovely" sons has been a roller coaster ride. "IVF is the most stressful thing I ever did," said Frankie."But I feel incredibly lucky to have two lovely boys."
- Tom and Jess Wilson
- I thought I was the cleverest person in the world," said Sandie, now 54 about her twin babies. "I thought nobody else could ever have done as well as me. They were my two little miracles."
- Alice Page 1992
- "Once I finally made it to Bourn Hall, I came out with two healthy babies," said Vicky. "I know that we have been so incredibly lucky, if it hadn't been for Bourn Hall we would have been childless".
- Jasmine Brewer 1993
- Daughter Jasmine, also has a strong attachment to Bourn Hall. "I'm very grateful to Bourn Hall," she said. "Without it and the people who work there, I wouldn't be here today." "I remember when I was about seven I told my friends I was an FBI baby! I was really proud to be able to tell them, even if I didn't get the name right"
- Jessie Young 2001
- And finally Christine fell pregnant. She still cries as she remembers seeing the heartbeat on her first scan. "It was amazing," she said. "Even the sonographer was really excited because she'd scanned me so many times."
- Leo Roberts 2004
- Then the couple heard of a new technique called ICSI which was being pioneered in the early 1990s. In ICSI, one sperm is injected directly into one egg to fertilise it
- Noah Hanscomb 2005
- NOTHING was going to stand in the way of Claire Hanscomb and the family she dreamt of. Even after having most of her reproductive organs removed she still refused to give up her hopes of getting pregnant.
- Thomas Harrison 2006
- "We are truly blessed," said Sarah. "Words cannot express any amount of gratitude and thanks to the lady who donated those eggs to me. "What she has given me is indescribable."
- Alexander McFarquhar 2007
- "Amazingly, it worked and nine months later our gorgeous little boy, Alexander was born. To say we are both completely 'gooey' is an understatement. Alister is completely smitten! Words cannot express how we feel about becoming parents; it is just amazing.
- Ryan Harding
- The couple were overjoyed. "There were floods of tears," remembers Drew, now 42. "I was walking on cloud nine."
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