{"product_id":"fp-07","title":"1983: Melbourne freezes an embryo","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·07 · 1983\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch1\u003e1983: Melbourne freezes an embryo\u003c\/h1\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"stand\"\u003eIn Melbourne, Alan Trounson and Linda Mohr froze an eight-cell embryo for four months, thawed it, and achieved a pregnancy.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cfigure\u003e\u003cimg src=\"\/cdn\/shop\/files\/29_The_Queen_Victoria_Hospital_Melbourne_1945.jpg?width=1600\" alt=\"The Queen Victoria Hospital, Melbourne, in 1945.\" loading=\"lazy\"\u003e\u003cfigcaption\u003eThe Queen Victoria Hospital, Melbourne, in 1945.\u003cspan class=\"cr\"\u003eVictorian Railways, 1945. State Library Victoria. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/figcaption\u003e\u003c\/figure\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eThe story\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFreezing embryos would one day allow a single treatment to give many chances of a baby. At Monash University and the Queen Victoria Medical Centre, Trounson and Mohr found a way to freeze four- and eight-cell embryos so that most of them survived.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSadly, this first pregnancy was lost at 24 weeks to an infection. But the method worked. Five months later, in the same hospital, Zoe Leyland was born, described by Monash at the time as the first authenticated birth from a frozen embryo.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cblockquote\u003e“the establishment of a pregnancy following the freezing and storage of an eight-cell embryo for 4 months in liquid nitrogen.”\u003ccite\u003eFrom the paper's abstract\u003c\/cite\u003e\n\u003c\/blockquote\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"card\"\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eThe paper\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"pt\"\u003eHuman Pregnancy following Cryopreservation, Thawing and Transfer of an Eight-Cell Embryo\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAlan Trounson, Linda Mohr\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eNature\u003c\/em\u003e 1983;305(5936):707 to 709. Published 20 October 1983. \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1038\/305707a0\"\u003eRead the paper\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"nav\"\u003e\n\u003ca href=\"\/products\/fp-06\"\u003e← 1980: How it was done\u003c\/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"\/products\/fp-08\"\u003e1984: Two more pregnancies from frozen embryos →\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\u003eAbstract read on nature.com and PubMed, 6 October 2026. Zoe Leyland's birth date (28 March 1984) is carried from the museum's records.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/details\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"IVF Museum","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47576845713580,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"url":"https:\/\/ivfmuseum.org\/products\/fp-07","provider":"IVF Museum","version":"1.0","type":"link"}