A Matter of Life. The Story of IVF – a Medical Breakthrough
Not Available / Digital Item
A Matter of Life. The Story of IVF – a Medical Breakthrough
The Miracle of the Century – On July 25th 1978, Louise Brown, the world’s first test-tube baby, was born. This dramatic medical breakthrough, which was hailed in every country throughout the world, was the climax of 10 years of painstaking research and often heart-breaking trial and error by two doctors – gynaecologist Patrick Steptoe and scientist Robert Edwards. In this book they reveal the secret of their long collaboration, a unique example of co-operation between consultant and scientist, the hospital ward and the laboratory. They describe their lengthy struggles and the opposition which they encountered from religious groups, official sources, even their own profession. Above all, they tell the story of Louise Brown from the moment that Patrick Steptoe secured a mature egg from the ovary of Mrs Lesley Brown, who was infertile, to the fertilisation of the egg under laboratory conditions. And finally, nine months later, came the triumphant delivery by Caesarean section and the Browns held the normal healthy daughter they had longed for. Extraordinary, fascinating and compelling, A Matter of Life is a testimony to the sheer determination of two doctors to bring hope and joy to thousands of childless couples throughout the world – it is, without doubt, a miracle in the history of medicine. This 2nd edition includes a Preface and Postscript as well as additional photographs that were taken post-1978. At the latest estimate, some four million IVF babies having been born worldwide.