As first IVF baby turns 40, world celebrates technique that helps fulfil family dreams
Under ordinary circumstances, British mother of two Louise Brown’s 40th birthday would be an unremarkable affair.
But this week her special day will be celebrated across the world because her birth on July 25, 1978, marked a medical breakthrough that gave childless couples a chance to have families.
Ms Brown was the world’s first baby to be born using in vitro fertilisation – a technique that was developed by Cambridge physiologist Robert Edwards and obstetrician Patrick Steptoe from Oldham General Hospital.
The two physicians later established the first IVF clinic, Bourn Hall, in Cambridgeshire. It went on to create thousands of new lives through the process of fertilising a woman’s eggs outside of her body, then returning the embryo to her womb.
Thousands of IVF clinics now exist across the world, including in the UAE, which has experienced a surge in demand with up to 35 per cent of couples in the country believed to have some form of fertility problem.
Bourn Hall Fertility Centre in Dubai, which is affiliated with the inventors of IVF, threw a party this week to celebrate Ms Brown’s birthday, inviting parents and the children who had been born with the help of its specialists.
Dr David Robertson is the group medical director at the centre. He had his initial training in IVF under the direction of the original Bourn Hall team in the UK before moving to the UAE in 2006.
“We celebrate Louise’s birthday every year in a minor way but 40 is symbolic,” Dr Robertson told The National.
“A 40th birthday is always a big milestone. In terms of the IVF technology, it’s an indication of how long the practice has been developed, and how much it has come of age.”
Regarded as controversial in 1978, IVF is now an accepted and popular option for couples desperate to conceive.
Infertility issues have increased in men and women in the Middle East. The rise in obesity and women waiting until later in life to have children are major factors in declining birth rates.
But while discussing fertility problems used to be taboo, Dr Robertson has seen a major shift in attitudes in the region since he qualified in 1986.
“Where I see the biggest change is with men,” he said. “I spent a couple of years in the Gulf in the 1980s and if I asked a man to do a sperm test then, they would refuse. It was seen as a woman’s problem.
“Men now are more open to participating. This is important because in 50 per cent of
the couples that we see, there is a male factor involved.”
For couples seeking costly fertility treatment every year – the number in Dubai is expected to almost double from 5,975 in 2015 to 9,139 by 2030 – it is important to choose a clinic that is right for them.
Dr Robertson advises people to go for two or three consultations before paying thousands of dirhams for one cycle of treatment. Feeling comfortable is imperative, as is finding a clinic where the specialists have experience.
He also warns couples to look carefully at success rates advertised by clinics and whether they are of live births or positive pregnancy tests.
“You should look at success rates but you should be clear about what you are getting,” he said. “A lot of women doing fertility treatments might have a positive pregnancy test but they might miscarry, so the number of live births is smaller.
“I could advertise a pregnancy rate as 70 per cent but that would be misleading.”
Despite working in the field for almost as long as the technique has been around, it is still a joyous moment for Dr Robertson when he helps a couple to conceive a child.
“Even to this day it is amazing when you look at what happens in the laboratory with embryos, and to then see a little baby at the end of the pregnancy,” he says.
“It still gives a tremendous buzz to all of us.”