Today we present another excellent piece from our September print issue, Ex ovo omnia? A letter to members of The Ovum Club on the 50th anniversary of the beginning of IVF.
This article is written by an infertile patient who left it too late to conceive, and who has herself experienced in vitro fertilisation procedures that failed. It is cast in the form of a fictional letter to the 280+ women and their partners who participated in the original clinical research that gave rise to the development of ivf in Oldham UK from 1969-1978. As most of these were very young at the time, many of them will still be alive today. Whilst the experiences of the two women who had ‘miracle test tube babies’ (Lesley Brown and Grace Macdonald) from that period have told their story many times, the rest – who did not get babies from this programme – have always remained silent. This article sympathises with their plight, acknowledges the pain they may have felt at the time and pays respect to the feelings of loss which may for some be ongoing. On the 50th anniversary of the commencement of the research in which they participated they are invited to give voice to their remembrances before the opportunity passes away.
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