First 'test tube baby' Louise Joy Brown celebrates IVF at film premiere
Louise Joy Brown, who is known as being the world's first 'test tube baby' has appeared on the red carpet to celebrate upcoming film, Joy, that tells her remarkable story.
"Had anything been slightly wrong with me, that, I think, would have been the end of IVF," she told the Daily Mail. "My mum just believed it would happen and it did. Just keep on persevering and if you believe it will happen, then hopefully it will."
Directed by Ben Taylor, the heartwarming film follows the pioneering scientist Patrick Steptoe (played by Bill Nighy) and his team who developed the technology to treat infertility, and spent ten years building up to the momentous moment of Louise’s arrival.
Steptoe with nurse Jean Purdy (played by Thomasin McKenzie) and physiologist, Sir Robert Edwards (played by James Norton) were able to develop IVF as we know it today with over six million babies being born to date from their innovation.
Steptoe chose the middle name 'Joy' as according to Louise, he hoped that "her birth would bring Joy and Hope to childless people around the world."
Louise’s mother, Lesley, had been trying for a baby for nine years before she signed up for IVF, when she discovered that her Fallopian tubes were blocked, which was why she hadn’t been able to conceive naturally.
She was one of 282 women to try the experimental medical treatment, and while 12 embryos were successfully implanted into different women only five became pregnant and only one made it to birth: Louise.
Who is Louise Joy Brown?
Louise was born on 25 July 1978 at the Oldham General Hospital to Lesley and John Brown and was delivered by Steptoe via caesarean. When she was born, Louise weighed 5 pounds, 12 ounces and even though she was called a 'test tube baby' she was actually conceived in a petri dish. Her birth is widely regarded as one of the biggest medical breakthroughs of 20th century.
Four years later, Louise’s parents also conceived her sister, Natalie, through IVF and she became the 40th baby to be conceived this way. Natalie was also the first IVF baby to conceive a baby of her own naturally in 1999.
The 46-year-old is now happily married, after meeting her husband Wesley Mullinder in 2004, and they welcomed their first son in December 2006.
Brown continues to advocate for IVF and writes on her website that she is "breaking the silence on all things fertility and ending the taboo about getting help for fertility issues or being born through scientific means."
Read more on IVF:
I went through 29 rounds of IVF to get the family I wanted. (Yahoo Life, 4-min read).
Bill Nighy says IVF film ‘Joy’ one of ‘nicest jobs’ he’s ever had. (Independent, 1-min read)
Netflix's British drama Joy is an important watch. (Digital Spy, 3-min read)
