Robert Edwards, one of the pioneers of in vitro fertilization—the procedure to which my spouse Helen and I owe our child—has died at the age of 87. I learned of his death via a lovely eulogic article by Elizabeth Comeau, the first “test-tube baby” born in the United States (in 1981). (Louise Brown of the U.K. was the first in the world, born in 1978.)
Edwards and Dr. Patrick Steptoe developed the IVF procedure at the University of Cambridge, and Edwards received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2010. (Steptoe had died in 1988.) The BBC reports: “Since then, the European Society for Human Reproduction and Embryology estimates that about 5 million babies have been born using the technique.”
This is not just a story about science, however. Comeau tells us that given her status as the country’s first IVF baby, she is often asked to comment on reproductive issues, but is finding it hard to do so now. “What can I possibly say to all of the couples he helped? What could I possibly say to those who happen to be children of assisted reproductive technologies? The truth is, despite being a writer, I have no words. He created life. And he created hope for those who thought hope was lost.” Go read the rest of her piece for her insights and recollections of meeting Edwards in person when she was a teen.
While we must be careful not to make lesbian parenthood synonymous with IVF (or even other assisted reproductive techniques), as I wrote last week, it has certainly been a significant factor in the growing numbers of intentional lesbian parents. Here’s my own IVF story.
Edwards’ death is a sad occasion for his family, friends, and all of us around the world who owe our families to him. At the same time, it gives us a chance to reflect on the common ground so many of us stand on, LGBT and not, partnered and single, creating our children through “non-traditional” means, but out of the same desire for family.