{"product_id":"fp-04","title":"1978: Louise Brown is born","description":"\u003cstyle\u003e@import url('https:\/\/fonts.googleapis.com\/css2?family=Cormorant+Garamond:ital,wght@0,300;0,400;0,500;0,600;1,400;1,500\u0026family=Source+Sans+3:ital,wght@0,400;0,500;0,600;1,400\u0026display=swap');\n#ivfm-exhibit{--ink:#1b2447;--slate:#5f667f;--paper:#efeee9;--hair:#d6d4cb;--rose:#c0355f;--serif:'Cormorant Garamond',Georgia,serif;--sans:'Source Sans 3',Arial,sans-serif;color:var(--ink);font-family:var(--sans);font-size:18px;line-height:1.65;max-width:760px;margin:0 auto;}\n#ivfm-exhibit .kick{font-size:14px;letter-spacing:.16em;text-transform:uppercase;color:var(--rose);margin:0 0 10px;}\n#ivfm-exhibit .stand{font-family:var(--serif);font-size:clamp(23px,2.6vw,28px);line-height:1.35;font-style:italic;margin:0 0 24px;}\n#ivfm-exhibit figure{margin:0 0 28px;padding:10px;background:#fff;border:1px solid var(--hair);}\n#ivfm-exhibit figure img{display:block;width:100%;height:auto;}\n#ivfm-exhibit figcaption{font-size:15px;line-height:1.5;margin-top:10px;}\n#ivfm-exhibit .cr{display:block;font-size:13.5px;color:var(--slate);margin-top:4px;}\n#ivfm-exhibit h2{font-family:var(--serif);font-weight:500;font-size:30px;margin:30px 0 10px;}\n#ivfm-exhibit p{margin:0 0 18px;}\n#ivfm-exhibit blockquote{margin:28px 0;padding:6px 0 6px 22px;border-left:3px solid var(--rose);font-family:var(--serif);font-size:24px;line-height:1.4;font-style:italic;}\n#ivfm-exhibit blockquote cite{display:block;font-family:var(--sans);font-style:normal;font-size:14.5px;color:var(--slate);margin-top:10px;}\n#ivfm-exhibit .card{background:var(--paper);border:1px solid var(--hair);padding:20px 22px;margin:30px 0;}\n#ivfm-exhibit .card h3{font-size:14px;letter-spacing:.14em;text-transform:uppercase;color:var(--slate);margin:0 0 10px;font-weight:600;}\n#ivfm-exhibit .card .pt{font-family:var(--serif);font-size:22px;line-height:1.35;margin:0 0 8px;}\n#ivfm-exhibit .card p{font-size:16px;margin:0 0 6px;}\n#ivfm-exhibit details{font-size:15px;color:var(--slate);border-top:1px solid var(--hair);padding-top:12px;margin-top:24px;}\n#ivfm-exhibit summary{cursor:pointer;font-weight:600;color:var(--ink);}\n#ivfm-exhibit .nav{display:flex;flex-wrap:wrap;gap:10px;margin:28px 0 8px;}\n#ivfm-exhibit .nav a{display:inline-block;padding:10px 16px;border:1px solid var(--ink);color:var(--ink);text-decoration:none;font-size:15px;}\n#ivfm-exhibit a{color:var(--ink);}\n.breadcrumb--product-single,.product-single__media,.product-single__primary-blocks,.product-single__box__block--tab{display:none!important}\n.product-single__content{display:block!important;grid-template-columns:none!important}\n.product-single__secondary-blocks{width:100%!important;max-width:none!important;margin:0!important;padding:0!important;opacity:1!important;transform:none!important}\n.product-single__box__block--description{opacity:1!important;transform:none!important;width:100%!important}\n#ivfm-exhibit h1{font-family:var(--serif);font-weight:500;font-size:clamp(38px,5vw,56px);line-height:1.08;margin:0 0 16px;color:var(--ink)}\n[id^=\"shopify-section-template--\"]:not([id$=\"__main\"]){display:none!important}\n\u003c\/style\u003e\n\u003cdiv id=\"ivfm-exhibit\"\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"kick\"\u003eThe Founding Papers · FP·04 · 1978\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch1\u003e1978: Louise Brown is born\u003c\/h1\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"stand\"\u003eOn 25 July 1978 a baby girl was born in Oldham. Eighteen days later, a single page in \u003cem\u003eThe Lancet\u003c\/em\u003e told the world how she had begun.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cfigure data-archive-ref=\"EDWS 18\/9\/1\/4\"\u003e\u003cimg src=\"\/cdn\/shop\/files\/03_EDWS_18-9-1-4_Louise_Brown_first_birthday_party_July_1979.jpg?width=1600\" alt=\"Robert Edwards, Patrick Steptoe, Lesley Brown holding Louise, and Jean Purdy at Louise Brown's first birthday party, July 1979.\" loading=\"lazy\"\u003e\u003cfigcaption\u003eRobert Edwards, Patrick Steptoe, Lesley Brown holding Louise, and Jean Purdy at Louise Brown's first birthday party, July 1979.\u003cspan class=\"cr\"\u003eChurchill Archives Centre, Cambridge. The Papers of Robert Edwards, EDWS 18\/9\/1\/4.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/figcaption\u003e\u003c\/figure\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eThe story\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAfter ten years of work, hundreds of hopeful women and many disappointments, Lesley Brown's daughter Louise was born at Oldham and District General Hospital. She was the first person ever born from an embryo created outside the body.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSteptoe and Edwards announced it in a letter of just one page. The full method would follow two years later. The world's most famous IVF document is also one of its shortest.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eJean Purdy is not named on this letter, though she is named on the papers before and after it. The museum tells her story in full on \u003ca href=\"\/pages\/jean-purdy\"\u003eher own page\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cblockquote\u003e“We wish to report that one of our patients, a 30-year-old nulliparous married woman, was safely delivered by caesarean section on July 25, 1978, of a normal healthy infant girl weighing 2700 g.”\u003ccite\u003eSteptoe and Edwards, 12 August 1978\u003c\/cite\u003e\n\u003c\/blockquote\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"card\"\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eThe paper\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"pt\"\u003eBirth after the Reimplantation of a Human Embryo\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePatrick Steptoe, Robert Edwards\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe Lancet\u003c\/em\u003e 1978;2(8085):366. Published 12 August 1978. One page. \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1016\/S0140-6736(78)92957-4\"\u003eRead the paper\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"nav\"\u003e\n\u003ca href=\"\/products\/fp-03\"\u003e← 1970: The first human embryos grown in the laboratory\u003c\/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"\/products\/fp-05\"\u003e1978: Durga is born in Calcutta →\u003c\/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"\/pages\/founding-papers\"\u003eAll the Founding Papers\u003c\/a\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdetails\u003e\u003csummary\u003eHow we know\u003c\/summary\u003e\u003cp\u003eCitation from PubMed and Crossref, read 6 October 2026. The journal could not be opened for this rebuild.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/details\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"IVF Museum","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47576839061676,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"url":"https:\/\/ivfmuseum.org\/products\/fp-04","provider":"IVF Museum","version":"1.0","type":"link"}