IVF Innovator Awarded the Nobel Prize

October, 2010 was good to the creator In Vitro Fertilization.

Robert Edwards, the man most instrumental in the discovery and development of IVF, was rewarded for his work fighting infertility with the 2010 Nobel Prize in medicine in October.

IVF is a procedure in which human egg cells are fertilized with sperm cells outside of the womb. These cells combine to create human embryos which are then implanted into a woman’s womb with the goal of producing a pregnancy.

Edwards, currently 85-years-old, began experimenting with IVF as early as the 1950’s and had a major breakthrough in 1977 when the scientist became instrumental in producing  the first ever IVF pregnancy. On July 25, 1978, Louise Brown was born in Britain, becoming the first every child produced by IVF.

Edwards’s breakthroughs in IVF have made it possible for hundreds of thousands of women throughout the world who previously couldn’t conceive to achieve pregnancy and give birth to healthy children.



The Nobel Prize committee praised Edwards accomplishments in an official citation presented to Edwards with the prestigious award.

“Edwards’ achievements have made it possible to treat infertility, a medical condition afflicting a large portion of humanity, including more than 10 percent of all couples worldwide,” the prize committee in Stockholm said.

“Approximately 4 million individuals have been born thanks to IVF. Today Robert Edward’s vision is a reality and brings joy to infertile people all over the world.”

A relatively new process involving remaining embryos from IVF is Embryo Adoption. During Embryo Adoption, individuals who have frozen embryos remaining from previous IVF cycles agree to donate them to an adopting couple. The adopting family may either be known or anonymous to the donors. The intent behind the process is to transfer the donated embryos into the womb of the adopting mother so that she and her husband may give birth to their adopted child.

To read more Dr. Edwards Nobel Prize visit MSNBC. For more information about Embryo Donation and Adoption please visit www.EmbryoAdoption.org.

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