Health & biology · 1978

In vitro fertilisation

Louise Brown, the first baby conceived in a lab dish, was born in Oldham, England.

Robert Edwards and Patrick Steptoe achieved the first IVF birth in July 1978. More than 12 million babies have since been born through IVF.

Arcs above join it to what it stood on, arcs below to what it led to. The bar places this stretch on the tree's whole timeline.

What it built on 2

The dashed line marks when it first worked.

Maternal mortality in the UK since 1847 Latest: 9.84 deaths per 100,000 births (2020) Source: Our World in Data