The world's first 'test tube baby', Louise Brown, has voiced her dismay that modern IVF services are frequently beyond the reach of many people on lower incomes. In interviews with the media following the release of the film about the team that developed IVF, she said: "I know the three pioneers wanted it to be available to everyone who needed it, and it breaks my heart that not everyone who needs it can access it. Mum and Dad had no money; they were ordinary working-class people, and I think that was one of the reasons Mum was chosen."
Louise Brown, the first person born through IVF, lent her support to the film and even visited the set to speak with the writers and the director, all of whom have personal experiences of IVF.
Although Louise Brown's mum underwent IVF to become pregnant with her, Louise and her husband, Wesley Mullinder, later had two children who were conceived without any fertility treatment.
Dr Robert Edwards was awarded the Nobel Prize in 2010 for his work; however, his collaborators Jean Purdy and Patrick Steptoe were ineligible because they had already died.
Louise Joy Brown, recognised as the world's first 'test-tube baby', was born on 25 July 1978; Patrick Steptoe, who delivered her by Caesarean section, bestowed upon her the middle name 'Joy'.
The blue plaque, installed in 2015 to recognise Jean Purdy's contribution to the development of IVF alongside Dr Patrick Steptoe and Robert Edwards, was unveiled by Andrew Steptoe of the Royal Society of Biology, who is Patrick Steptoe's son.
Purdy co-authored 26 papers with Steptoe and Edwards, and throughout her career 370 children were conceived via IVF.
By coincidence, Jean Purdie was buried in Grantchester — the same name as the television series in which her co‑star James Norton appeared for several years.
