'My life growing up as the first test tube baby'

‘The Pope made a speech saying he couldn’t condemn me and I would have a place in heaven’.

It was an incredible statement to make about a baby girl who just been born, but Louise Brown quickly became used to the attention.

Because while she was a perfectly normal, happy child, hers was no ordinary birth. Louise was the first IVF baby.

Forty years on from becoming the first child to be conceived with the help of scientists, Louise reflected on what it was like growing up as the inaugural test tube baby during a visit to the region and the morale questions surrounding her existence.

Today, ‘test tube babies’ are not uncommon. Around six and a half million babies have been born through IVF since Louise’s arrival in 1978 and the method is widely used by parents who are unable to have children.

But back then it was a big deal. The move towards IVF proved hugely controversial, with the interference of lab coats and microscopes judged as a step too far for some, while newspapers labelled the new arrival the ‘baby of the century’.

Louise, who turns 40 in July, is undeniably special. Through no fault of her own, she will always be unique.

But she said: “To me my life is normal, I’ve never known anything different.

“When I was born the press attention was mega. Mum and dad used to talk about it and I’ve seen the press cuttings.

“When I was younger I used to think about it but not now so much, now there are so many of us. It’s almost 40 years ago – it gets better as the years go on. My mum was in the right place at the right time. It could have been anyone.”

Louise’s mother Lesley was unable to get pregnant as her fallopian tubes were blocked and was recommended to Dr Patrick Steptoe in Oldham by her local GP, who was involved in pioneering a radical new technique called IVF.

All her parents wanted was to have a child – but in doing so put themselves under the microscope and had to deal with judgements from those on the outside looking in.

Photographers camped outside the hospital where Louise was born, with the attention surrounding the birth something akin to that of a royal baby.

It was a lot for parents Lesley and John, who have both since died, to deal with.

Louise, from Bristol, who has two children, both of whom were born naturally, said: “A lot of people were against it. Catholics were completely against it. The Pope made a speech saying he couldn’t condemn me and I would have a place in heaven.

“I have never personally had a bad reaction. My mum received a couple of bits in the mail, including a test tube with fake blood on it which said ‘we’re coming to get you’.

“It scared her a little bit but nothing ever happened.”

She added: “I wouldn’t say it has had a huge effect on me. I have got my own family.

“I’m proud to be who I am. I love going to new clinics and seeing the fantastic work of doctors and nurses. I’m proud to have been the beginning of all that.”

Four decades on, technological advances to help parents conceive have continued at a rapid pace.

Louise was speaking at the opening of the new CARE Fertility Clinic in Edgbaston, Birmingham, which will offer IVF and other specialist treatment for parents.

The idea of ‘three-person babies’, using two eggs and one sperm to combat genetic diseases, is being explored, but has led to concerns about the potential for ‘designer babies’ and accusations parents in the future might be able to ‘play God’ and influence how their child might look.

But Louise believes it is for couples to make choices about how they have children, without fear of being judged.

She said: “People condemned my mum but all she wanted to do was have a baby.

“It is down to the individual person. I might think something is wrong but it doesn’t mean everyone else does.”