IVF gets Nobel Prize after 32 years
October 13, 2010 by Raquel
Filed under INFERTILITY
Robert Edwards, pioneer of in vitro fertilization (IVF) and brought to the world the first “test tube” baby Louise Brown in 1978 was awarded the Nobel Prize in medicine this year.
What was controversial 30 years ago is now an established medical procedure. After Louise Brown, more than 4 million people worldwide were born via IVF. Imagine being instrumental in bringing to life this many people.
Current figures show that 1 in 10 couples have infertility problems.
According to Edwards:
Many colleagues and experts in the field believe that this honour for Edwards is long overdue. In fact, he founded the world’s first IVF centre, the Bourn Hall Clinic in Cambridge, together with English surgeon, Patrick Steptoe. Unfortunately, Steptoe cannot share the Nobel Prize with Edwards as he passed away in 1988. “The statutes of the Nobel Foundation stipulate that a prize cannot be awarded posthumously, unless the winner dies after the announcement of the prize itself.” Edwards himself is 85 years old and of failing health and may not enjoy his honor that long.
Indeed, IVF has changed human reproduction forever. It is currently estimated that worldwide, about 1 in every 10 couples have fertility problems. IVF enables them to procreate.
Nowadays, women as old as 70 could still bear children through IVF. The first “man to get pregnant” also did so via IVF.
However, despite being an established and widely practiced medical procedure, IVF remains controversial from an ethical and religious point of view, thus probably the reason of the delayed accolade.
Here are some quotes from family, friends and colleagues of Edwards about his Nobel Prize:
According to his wife Ruth:
Says Basil Tarlatzis of the International Federation of Fertility Societies

All the religious and ethical controversies cannot mask the benefits that IVF has brought to countless couples who have always wanted a child but are unable to do so. It really is due time that Edwards got the Nobel prize, and it is a shame that his partner could not be alive to share the glory.
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