Patrick Steptoe (1913-1988), British gynecologist and medical researcher who helped develop the process of in vitro fertilization was born in Witney, Oxfordshire, England.
He graduated from the University of London’s Saint George’s Hospital Medical School, specializing in obstetrics and gynecology in 1939. In 1951, Patrick Steptoe began working at Oldham General and District Hospital in Northeast England, where he developed a method of retrieving human eggs using a laparoscope. Using this new technique in his clinical practice, he was able to rescue fresh preovulatory oocytes from the pelvis of patients who suffered from infertility due to tubal damage.
In 1971 Steptoe, Robert Edwards and Jean Purdy published a description of the first human blastocyst observed after in vitro fertilization.
Steptoe used laparoscopy to obtain human eggs and Edwards fertilized them in the laboratory. In 1972, Steptoe implanted a fertilized a fertilized egg into a uterus for the first time.
In 1977, Steptoe and Edwards produced the first successful IVF pregnancy, and the following year the world’s first test-tube was born.
Patrick Steptoe (In vitro fertilization)
