When was IVF (In Vitro Fertilisation) introduced to the public to be used...

[Nathan]

...commercially to impregnate women? Please provide a reference to your response if possible.

 

[diamondflower]

This technique has been used extensively in animal embryological research for decades, but only since 1978 has it been successfully applied to human reproduction.
Let me give you the details..

‘Test Tube’ Babyâ€â€It's a Girl!

Condition After Cesarean

Birth Reported Excellent

Los Angeles Times
July 26, 1978

The Los Angeles Times published the following article about the birth of the first baby ever conceived through In Vitro Fertilization (IVF).

From Times Wire Services


Oldham, Eng.â€â€The world's first “test tube†baby, a girl, was born Tuesday, Oldham General Hospital announced. The baby, believed to be the first ever conceived in a laboratory and then implanted in its mother's womb, was born by cesarean section, officials said.
The girl, who was described as in excellent condition, was born to Mrs. Lesley Brown, 32, of Bristol, Eng., who had been childless since her marriage nine years ago because her fallopian tubes were blocked.
Surgeons removed an egg from Mrs. Brown's body, fertilized it with her husband's sperm and then implanted it in her uterus after nurturing it for almost five daysâ€â€the amount of time a fertilized egg normally remains in the mother's fallopian tube before it becomes implanted in the uterine wall.
The baby weighed 5 pounds 12 ounces. “Her condition at birth was normal,†the hospital said in a statement issued after midnight.
The father was identified as Gilbert John Brown, a 38-year-old truck driver with the state-owned railway system, British Rail. Until recently, the parents had been identified only as Mr. and Mrs. A.
A spokesman for the regional health authority said that the mother was in “excellent condition†after the delivery just before midnight.
Doctors at the hospital, where Mrs. Brown has stayed for weeks in a private room with a guard at the door, apparently decided Tuesday to operate to deliver the baby.
The child had been expected anytime up to Aug. 18. There was no immediate explanation why the operation was performed.
Mrs. Brown's pregnancy had stirred worldwide publicity since it was confirmed earlier this month by Oldham Hospital gynecologist Dr. Patrick C. Steptoe.
Mrs. Brown had been shielded from reporters and television cameras and spent most of her time knitting, doing crossword puzzles and watching television.
Her husband spent much of his time in her fourth-floor private room. Between visits, he applied last-minute touches to the freshly decorated nursery in their rented house in Bristol, 173 miles away.
Only Mrs. Brown's doctors and nurses, her husband, her stepdaughter Sharon and her mother have been allowed to visit her room.
Many other childless parents around the world have followed the case with interest.
Mrs. Brown is described as a quiet, retiring homebody who came to public notice only because of her unflagging determination to have a baby.
Steptoe and Dr. Robert Edwards combined sperm from Brown with an egg from his wife in a laboratory Nov. 10. The birth of the child capped 12 years of research by the two experts. Britain's top medical authorities say they do not know of any documented births of test tube babies, although quite a few women have undergone the implant procedure and failed to give birth.


Source: Los Angeles Times, July 26, 1978.

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