First test tube baby's mother dies aged 64
Wednesday 20 June 2012
Related articles
The woman who gave birth to the world's first test tube baby has died.
Lesley Brown, who lived in Whitchurch, Bristol, made history in July 1978 when her daughter, Louise, was born in Oldham General Hospital.
Mrs Brown had been trying for a baby with her husband, John, for nine years before she became the first woman to give birth following IVF treatment.
She successfully conceived following pioneering treatment by Patrick Steptoe and Robert Edwards, with the birth making headlines around the world.
The 64-year-old died with her family at her side at the Bristol Royal Infirmary on June 6 following a short illness.
She leaves behind stepdaughter Sharon and daughters Louise and Natalie, who were both born following IVF treatment, and five grandchildren.
Her husband died five years ago.
The family attended a private funeral service in Bristol this morning.
Daughter Louise said: "Mum was a very quiet and private person who ended up in the world spotlight because she wanted a family so much.
"We are all missing her terribly."
Speaking on behalf of Professor Robert Edwards and the team at Bourn Hall Clinic, chief executive Mike Macamee said: "Lesley was a devoted mum and grandmother and through her bravery and determination many millions of women have been given the chance to become mothers.
"She was a lovely gentle lady and we will all remember her with deep affection."
Speaking in 2008 Mrs Brown said she had felt so desperate to have a baby, she was willing to put up with anything to give birth.
Mrs Brown's blocked fallopian tubes meant getting pregnant naturally was impossible for her and her husband.
She moved back and forth between doctors until 1976, when she heard about new research and was referred to Dr Steptoe.
Along with her husband she agreed to sign up for what was a very experimental procedure - something that was to change their lives forever.
Although other women had been implanted with fertilised eggs, Mrs Brown was the first to achieve a pregnancy which went beyond a few weeks.
Nevertheless, there were some who feared the baby - created outside the womb - would be abnormal and it was only after Louise's birth on July 25, 1978, that minds could be put at rest.
Dr Steptoe took great pleasure in announcing to the press: "All examinations showed that the baby is quite normal."
Mrs Brown said she remembered feeling worried about undergoing IVF.
"It was a very different process to what it is now," she said.
"So many people now need to go through IVF whereas, at the start, I felt like I was the only one."
For Mrs Brown and her husband IVF worked the first time.
The couple also needed only one cycle to conceive their second daughter, Natalie, four years later.
PA
-
Stand by for another DECADE of wet summers, say Met Office meteorologists
-
'Jail reckless bankers': Report urges the Government to introduce new criminal offence for reckless management
-
Feat of engineering: Incredible photographs show construction beneath New York's Second Avenue
-
World news in pictures
-
Google challenges US surveillance gagging order
- 1 Disability campaigners celebrate 'victory' after government rethink over plans to make it more difficult to claim disability benefits
- 2 'Jail reckless bankers': Report urges the Government to introduce new criminal offence for reckless management
- 3 Breaking the Silence: In the reality of occupation, there are no Palestinian civilians – only potential terrorists
- 4 We never knew Nigella Lawson - and we still don’t
- 5 Vice pulls 'breathtakingly tasteless' fashion shoot glorifying the suicides of famous female authors from Sylvia Plath to Virginia Woolf
Get your summer started with British Military Fitness
BMF is the UK’s biggest and best loved outdoor fitness classes
How will you make today delicious?
Tell us how you plan to make today delicious and you could win a £50 M&S gift card.
Learn a new language
Add another string to your bow with Rosetta Stone, whether it's Spanish, Italian or Mandarin...
Win a Nook® Simple Touch eReader
Find out how Nook® is supporting the Evening Standard's Get Reading campaign - and your chance to win one.
Free reading festival for families
Follow The Standard's campaign to get London's children reading - and experience this unique event at Trafalgar Square on 13 July.
Enter the latest Independent competitions
Win anything from gadgets to five-star holidays on our competitions and offers page.
Business videos from commercial thought leaders
Watch the best in the business world give their insights into the world of business.
Independent Dating
iJobs General
Lighting Design Engineer
£33000 - £35000 Per Annum: The Green Recruitment Company: The Green Recruitmen...
Are you a Primary School Teacher in the Clacton area?
£110 - £135 per day: Randstad Education Chelmsford: Teaching opportunites in t...
September teaching roles - Primary
£21000 - £32000 per annum: Randstad Education Chelmsford: Primary Teaching opp...
Primary Teaching vacancies, starting in September - Southend
£21000 - £32000 per annum: Randstad Education Chelmsford: Primary School teach...
Day In a Page
First night: The Cripple of Inishmaan
Scandi-geeks descend on Nordicana for fan-convention
Female aristocrats battle to inherit the title







Comments