The first "test tube" will be 40 years old: "It's scary to think that everything started with me"

The news of his birth broke with the power of a milestone and generated a veritable worldwide unrest. It was July 25, 1978 and the British Louise Brown became the first human being designed in a "test tube". And as he opened the door in the hopes of millions of couples with fertility problems, there were critics who considered the baby as "unnatural": forty years ago, the union of An egg and a sperm out of the human body. embryo in the uterus – in vitro fertilization (IVF) – has provoked the most wacky fantasies.

Today no one doubts its effectiveness and its safety: in the world about 8 million babies are born thanks to the techniques of badisted reproduction, according to data of the last meeting of the European Society of. Embryology and Human Reproduction. In Argentina, it is estimated that there were 30,000.
"When I was born, I had a hundred tests to check that everything was fine.But then I did some studies throughout my life.There was nothing there. Strange or different at home or at any other child born by IVF, "Louise Brown told PERFIL by mail, although her birth marked a before and after in the field of human reproduction, Louise says that most time leads a normal life: "I work from 9 to 5 in a post office in Bristol, my hometown, then I take care of my children Aiden and Cameron, 4 and 10. The only unusual thing is the consultations and the demands I get from all over the world because of my birth. "

Lesley and John Brown's daughter became famous at the time of childbirth. The caesarean section that was made to her mother was filmed and images of the newborn came on television and multiplied in graphic media around the world. The couple has been unsuccessful in pregnancy for nine years and has not hesitated to accept the experimental treatment proposed by Patrick Steptoe and Robert Edwards, two prominent scientists who have spent nearly ten years researching the subject. For his contributions in the field of reproductive medicine, Edwards received in 2010 the Nobel Prize in Medicine (Steptoe was already dead).

New era. Nowadays, you do not have to be an expert to talk about artificial insemination, frozen embryos or uterine hiring; However, these complex procedures continue to awaken dilemmas that go beyond the scientific framework. Louise, her parents told her about how she was conceived when she was 4 years old, but she believes that at age 10 she began to understand the social and medical changes that her birth has produced. "They showed me the video of the day of my birth just before I went to school, they thought the people in the school would mention it and I should have some information," he said. she, and she specifies that, as a child, she never had fantasies in thinking that she was born in a test tube

were born by IVF the question about the form of her conception ?
Many parents ask me this question. Contrary to what has happened, today is something much simpler since IVF is very common and there is a good chance that these guys know others who are born like them. I think that emphasizing how much they wanted them and that they went through a lot of things to show them is a way of showing them how much they are loved.

Louise is recognized as an "ambbadador" of badisted procreation, even though she did not choose. "My name is irretrievably badociated with its beginnings and they invite me to give lectures and ask for interviews almost everyday." As Steptoe, Edwards and my parents are already dead, I feel I'm keeping their memories alive. and their legacies in speaking of my birth, my mere presence proves that there is nothing strange in the design through these techniques, "he says.
– What do you think of the advances made in the field of badisted reproduction during these forty years?
-My mother would be surprised to see how badisted reproduction techniques have evolved … and sometimes it's scary to think that everything started with me! It is important that doctors and scientists continue to give hope to those with fertility problems.

– Is there anything that bothers you to be the first born person of IVF?
– Sometimes journalists ask a lot of questions! Beyond that, most people are respectful and understand that I have not chosen to be in this position. The only thing I did was to be born

Exhibition and Conferences
To celebrate the 40th anniversary of In Vitro Fertilization (IVF), the Science Museum in London inaugurated a dedicated exhibition to the theme, which will be Visit between July and November of this year. As part of the exhibition, Wednesday 25, Louise Brown will celebrate her birthday by attending a conference, open to the public, which she will be holding with Roger Gosden, an expert on female infertility and a former doctoral student of Robert Edwards.

in Argentina, the National Academy of Pharmacy and Biochemistry of the UBA will hold the scientific conference "At 40 years of human reproduction" on August 16, from 14h to 18h, in the conference room Faculty of Pharmacy and Biochemistry (Junín 956, PB, CABA). Speakers will be specialists Stella Lancuba, Daniel Salamone and Luisa Barón. To participate, advance registration by phone is required at 5287-4821 or by email at: [email protected].