"I refused to accept that I had no options. I read every article I could about fertility treatment. After three years, I heard about a medical breakthrough by gynaecologist Patrick Steptoe and physiologist Robert Edwards. It was described as very experimental and new. I wrote to Patrick about my situation. It took almost a year, and my husband and I had to go through a lot of tests, but eventually Patrick told me I was an ideal candidate for their free, pioneering IVF programme."
"I started to live with a sliver of hope. But in February 1977, when my first IVF attempt failed, it broke my heart. I remember crying on the train home. With help from Bob, Patrick and the nurse embryologist Jean Purdy the most supportive person I'd ever met I picked myself up. The following May, I started my second attempt. Another woman on the programme, Lesley Brown, was pregnant with Louise by then, which gave hope to all of us."
A woman diagnosed with blocked fallopian tubes at age 26 faced infertility and limited adoption prospects in 1972. Attempts to surgically open her tubes failed, so she researched fertility treatments and learned of a new medical breakthrough by Patrick Steptoe and Robert Edwards. After extensive tests and nearly a year of waiting, she qualified for a free pioneering IVF programme. The procedure was explained simply: eggs retrieved, fertilised in a petri dish with her husband's sperm, then returned to her womb. Her first IVF attempt failed in February 1977; with support she tried again the following May, encouraged by another participant's pregnancy.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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