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| IVF pioneer Robert Edwards will never be forgotten by those he helped | IVF pioneer Robert Edwards will never be forgotten by those he helped |
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| For someone who transformed the lives of so many, Sir Robert Edwards, who passed away yesterday, was a remarkably modest and unassuming man. It was the pioneering work he carried out along with his colleague Patrick Steptoe that had allowed me to have my own two children, both conceived by IVF, so when I was sent to interview him I was daunted at the prospect of coming face to face with the man who contributed so much to my own happiness. | For someone who transformed the lives of so many, Sir Robert Edwards, who passed away yesterday, was a remarkably modest and unassuming man. It was the pioneering work he carried out along with his colleague Patrick Steptoe that had allowed me to have my own two children, both conceived by IVF, so when I was sent to interview him I was daunted at the prospect of coming face to face with the man who contributed so much to my own happiness. |
| What was immediately apparent on meeting Edwards was the empathy that he had for those with fertility problems. It's not easy to understand how devastating infertility can be unless you have had difficulty conceiving yourself, but although he was in his early 80s at the time, he was still passionate about helping infertile couples to have families of their own. | What was immediately apparent on meeting Edwards was the empathy that he had for those with fertility problems. It's not easy to understand how devastating infertility can be unless you have had difficulty conceiving yourself, but although he was in his early 80s at the time, he was still passionate about helping infertile couples to have families of their own. |
| If you ask most parents to imagine life without their children, they'd probably joke about having more time, or more money or more sleep – but Edwards appreciated just how precious children really are to their parents. A kind and generous man, he was very aware of the difference his work could make to those who were trying unsuccessfully to conceive. He felt that everyone should have access to the treatment that might allow them to have a child of their own, and told me it made him angry that the postcode lottery in the UK was denying many people the opportunity to have NHS-funded IVF. | If you ask most parents to imagine life without their children, they'd probably joke about having more time, or more money or more sleep – but Edwards appreciated just how precious children really are to their parents. A kind and generous man, he was very aware of the difference his work could make to those who were trying unsuccessfully to conceive. He felt that everyone should have access to the treatment that might allow them to have a child of their own, and told me it made him angry that the postcode lottery in the UK was denying many people the opportunity to have NHS-funded IVF. |
| The aspect of his work I'd never really appreciated until meeting him was what a lonely business it had been in the early days: when Edwards began trying to fertilise human eggs in the laboratory, his attempts were not greeted with enthusiasm. He and his colleague, the gynaecologist Dr Patrick Steptoe, endured years of criticism as they attempted to develop the technique of in vitro fertilisation. They faced the disapproval not just of the media, the church and a sceptical public, but were also attacked by many of their fellow scientists, who denounced their work as potentially dangerous and unethical. They were refused funding by the Medical Research Council, and it was only their resolve and strength of character that enabled them to carry on. Edwards said that he had felt "quite alone" at the time, but that he'd been carried by his absolute certainty that eventually he would be proved right. It was that certainty and his determination that so many of us have to thank for our families today. | The aspect of his work I'd never really appreciated until meeting him was what a lonely business it had been in the early days: when Edwards began trying to fertilise human eggs in the laboratory, his attempts were not greeted with enthusiasm. He and his colleague, the gynaecologist Dr Patrick Steptoe, endured years of criticism as they attempted to develop the technique of in vitro fertilisation. They faced the disapproval not just of the media, the church and a sceptical public, but were also attacked by many of their fellow scientists, who denounced their work as potentially dangerous and unethical. They were refused funding by the Medical Research Council, and it was only their resolve and strength of character that enabled them to carry on. Edwards said that he had felt "quite alone" at the time, but that he'd been carried by his absolute certainty that eventually he would be proved right. It was that certainty and his determination that so many of us have to thank for our families today. |
| Even after the birth of the first IVF baby, Louise Brown, in 1978, Edwards and Steptoe were still regarded with some suspicion, but couples who couldn't conceive began flocking to their fertility clinic at Bourn, Cambridge, to try this amazing new treatment. Scientists across the world learnt from them and were soon successfully performing IVF, and offering hope to thousands of couples with fertility problems. | Even after the birth of the first IVF baby, Louise Brown, in 1978, Edwards and Steptoe were still regarded with some suspicion, but couples who couldn't conceive began flocking to their fertility clinic at Bourn, Cambridge, to try this amazing new treatment. Scientists across the world learnt from them and were soon successfully performing IVF, and offering hope to thousands of couples with fertility problems. |
| Infertility has an impact on every aspect of your life when you are trying unsuccessfully to conceive. It affects your friendships, your work and your well-being; it makes you feel powerless, angry and guilty; you put your life on hold, waiting for something that might never happen; you become isolated, depressed and lonely, blaming yourself for being a failure. I know I didn't realise quite how much infertility had changed me, how much it had soured my outlook on life, until I finally got pregnant after my second attempt at IVF. It was as if someone had lifted a grey veil I'd been looking through for years, and suddenly the world was full of colour again. | Infertility has an impact on every aspect of your life when you are trying unsuccessfully to conceive. It affects your friendships, your work and your well-being; it makes you feel powerless, angry and guilty; you put your life on hold, waiting for something that might never happen; you become isolated, depressed and lonely, blaming yourself for being a failure. I know I didn't realise quite how much infertility had changed me, how much it had soured my outlook on life, until I finally got pregnant after my second attempt at IVF. It was as if someone had lifted a grey veil I'd been looking through for years, and suddenly the world was full of colour again. |
| My first IVF baby is now 16, and his younger sister is 12. There's not a day that passes that I don't have cause to remember how very lucky I am to have them, and I will be forever indebted to Edwards for battling against adversity for what he believed in, and for bringing such joy into my life. | My first IVF baby is now 16, and his younger sister is 12. There's not a day that passes that I don't have cause to remember how very lucky I am to have them, and I will be forever indebted to Edwards for battling against adversity for what he believed in, and for bringing such joy into my life. |
| It always seemed strange to me that a man who had done so much for so many didn't gain the accolades he truly deserved until relatively recently, receiving a Nobel prize in 2010 and a knighthood in 2011. Edwards may not receive the pomp and circumstance of a ceremonial funeral, but he will be remembered forever in the hearts of those of us who have benefitted from his work, and he has an extraordinary legacy with the birth of an estimated 5 million IVF babies across the world. | It always seemed strange to me that a man who had done so much for so many didn't gain the accolades he truly deserved until relatively recently, receiving a Nobel prize in 2010 and a knighthood in 2011. Edwards may not receive the pomp and circumstance of a ceremonial funeral, but he will be remembered forever in the hearts of those of us who have benefitted from his work, and he has an extraordinary legacy with the birth of an estimated 5 million IVF babies across the world. |
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