SEMINAL FINDING

This was a seminal finding in two respects, it was the first time that in vitro activated sperm had been shown to be capable of contributing to embryo development beyond the 2-cell stage in a mammalian system and it was the first time human embryos had been shown to undergo cell divisions in vitro.

Following this, he showed in 1971 that human oocytes fertilized in vitro could undergo further cleavage generating 16-cell stage embryos and forming blastocysts (cluster of cells) in vitro. The series of discoveries made by Edwards during 1969-1971 represent important milestone in IVF research and set for the next phase to come.

In the early 1970s, Dr. Edwards and Steptoe started to transfer the early embryos that resulted from IVF back into women.

After more than one hundred attempts that all led to short-lived pregnancies, they realized that the hormone treatments given to women to induce oocyte maturation disturbed implantation of the embryo in the uterus, resulting in spontaneous abortions.

Finally, after a change in the hormone treatment protocol, the first successful pregnancy was achieved in 1976.

Unfortunately, the embryo had implanted ectopically in the Fallopian tube and the pregnancy had to be terminated.

Dr. Edwards and Dr. Steptoe then decided to abandon the ovarian stimulation protocol altogether and instead rely on the natural menstrual cycle of the patients, although this meant that they would have access to only one egg per cycle.

Based on the concentration of luteinizing hormones in the urine of the women, they could predict when the maturing oocyte would reach the metaphase stage of meiosis II in vivo.

They hoped that they then would be able to retrieve the egg by laparoscopy before ovulation occurred.

Dr. Steptoe and Dr. Edwards succeeded in their efforts and in 1978 they made the historic announcement that a normal, fit and healthy baby, Louise Joy Brown, had been born through successful IVF of a human oocytes.

Dr. Edwards' long-term vision and persistence had finally come to fruition, opening up a new era in the treatment of infertility

The first generation of children conceived through IVF, including Louise Joy Brown, are now of reproductive age. Several of them have had children of their own, without the need for IVF.