The Birth and History of IVF

B. Dale Magee, MD

From the moment it began, infertility treatment has been a story of technology advancing in front of medical ethics. Issues of consent, genetic engineering, fertility rights and system financing priorities have been, and continue to be, at least as challenging as the technology. For this issue, I present you with a history of infertility treatment published online by Reproductive Medicine Associates of New Jersey.

You may be surprised to learn that the birth of in vitro fertilization, or IVF, was not in this century but rather began in the 1800s. The story of IVF may sound like it’s written for a science-fiction novel but in truth is well documented in prestigious medical journals.

The story of IVF in the U.S. marks the beginning of millions of babies born through technology and advanced reproductive procedures, each one making their historical mark on our great nation.

The 1800s

In the mid 1800’s, scientists finally discovered that pregnancies occurred from a combination of sperm and egg. Prior to that time it was not understood why semen caused conception and what women produced that allowed for pregnancy. Shortly after that discovery, Dr. [J. Marion] Sims at the Women’s Hospital in New York performed a fresh intrauterine insemination from the husband’s sperm. This created one pregnancy that ended in miscarriage. Fertility treatment mostly consisted of gynecological surgery at that time.

In 1884 Dr. William Pancoast in Philadelphia performed the first donor insemination using sperm from the medical student voted “best looking” in his class. It was anonymous, and both the husband and wife were not even informed that a donor was being used until years later. Luckily, the husband was elated; however this dishonesty and lack of informed consent would not be acceptable today.

The early 1900s

In the early 1900’s much research was done on hormones and how they related to fertility. The first infertility clinic opened in 1926 in Massachusetts. In

1934 Gregory Pincus performed IVF-like research on rabbits but was fired from Harvard due to his controversial research. His top researcher Menkin was hired by Dr. Rock in New York and began human IVF research. At Columbia Hospital down the street in New York in 1951, Dr. Landrum Shattles used the Rock-Menkin protocols to duplicate the experiments. In 1965, at Baltimore’s hospital, Dr. Jones worked with Dr. Edwards of England and fertilized the first human egg in vitro. In 1968 back in England, Dr. Edwards joined Dr. Patrick Steptoe and used a Laparoscopy surgery to retrieve an egg and fertilize it in vitro (in the lab). They published the results in the journal Nature in 1969.

The political opinion of IVF and governmental regulations of research were still evolving. More Americans were accepting of the concept but the Pope was adamantly opposed.

The 1970s

On September 12, 1972 at 8 a.m., a surgery was taking place in a hospital in Brooklyn. Dr. William Sweeney retrieved five eggs from a female. The woman’s husband took the eggs in a taxi five miles across town to give them to Dr. Shettles at Columbia-Presbyterian Hospital. The husband then went into a collection room and produced a fresh ejaculate to be used to fertilize the eggs. By 2 p.m. the hospital chairman learned about the experiment and forbid the embryos to be transferred back to the mother. The husband was informed at 4 p.m. that evening and the wife was informed by 9 p.m. while she was still recovering from surgery. This would have been the first case of IVF with embryo transfer but it was stopped prematurely.

Three years later in England in 1975, Drs. Edwards and Steptoe announced the first successful pregnancy created from IVF; however it ended in and ectopic pregnancy. But by 1978, the first successful live birth from IVF was announced by Drs. Edwards and Steptoe in England. Lesley Brown gave birth to her daughter, Louise Joy Brown, who was healthy in every way. While the birth of a test tube baby shocked the watching world, it had been a century in the making.

the 1980’s and 1990’s After wading through more regulatory hurdles, the first U.S. IVF clinic was opened by doctors [Howard and Georgeanna] Jones in Virginia. The race was on but Australia was the second country to announce a test tube baby in 1980. The U.S. announced the birth of IVF baby Elizabeth Carr in 1981 (1).

Reference:

1. RMA, The Birth and History of IVF, accessed online 10/14/21, https://rmanetwork.com/blog/birth-history-ivf/