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CNN Live Today

Test Tube Baby Reunion

Aired October 03, 2003 - 11:27   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Her birth made headlines, but it was a letter from her doctor that left a lasting impression on America's first test tube baby. That letter told Elizabeth Carr that she was a normal human being despite her then unusual conception. The doctor echoed that sentiment a year later.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. FRED WIRTH, NEONATOLOGIST: So it is our impression at this time with her normal growth and development, her lack of interim diseases and the multiple diagnostic evaluation, that she is a healthy 1-year-old child who has a very bright and happy future.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: Well, that was some good predictions, because look who's here, Elizabeth Carr. She is now a college sophomore who was recently reunited with her very first doctor. She's in Boston, and in Albuquerque, neonatologist Dr. Fred Wirth, Carr's doctor, and the author of a book on prenatal parenting.

Hello to both of you.

WIRTH: Hello.

ELIZABETH CARR, AMERICA'S FIRST TEST TUBE BABY: Good morning.

WIRTH: Hi, Elizabeth.

CARR: How are you?

KAGAN: There you go.

Doctor, let me go ahead and start with you. Take us back 21 years. Not only was this incredible birth taking place, but you felt the need or the desire to write this letter to this little creature, to this little baby. Why did you feel you need to that?

WIRTH: Because of the circumstances surrounding her conception. And I wanted to reassure her that in spite of that, she's a perfectly happy, healthy, normal, newborn baby, and she amazed all of us in the delivery room. I also wanted to tell her how courageous her parents were and how much they loved her from the very conception.

KAGAN: Well, you can see they did some good work just by looking at this young woman.

WIRTH: Absolutely. Absolutely.

KAGAN: Elizabeth, let's bring you in. So you've had this letter all your life, and you've had a chance to read it a number of times. What did it mean to you as you were growing up to have something like that?

CARR: Well, it was just an outside source telling me that I was normal and healthy, which was amazing to me, because my parents were supposed to say things like that. But this letter, growing up reading it was really a pleasure. It really got me through some tough times.

KAGAN: And so here you are all grown up, a beautiful young woman. You're a budding journalist. We'll have to get you here into CNN at some point. We'll talk about that later. But you decided you wanted to do some research and track down the man, the doctor that wrote this letter. How was that?

CARR: That's right. Well, one day standing around my cubicle at a newspaper that I was working at, in Virginia, I mentioned to a reporter, a friend, that I had this doctor that I hadn't meant, which is one of the few team members that I hadn't met before, and said that I wanted to track him down, and so we searched all summer, and I have been searching for a few years before, and we finally managed to find him. So I was very excited to meet him and talk to him.

KAGAN: And so, Dr. Wirth, now it was your turn to be on the receiving end, and I think it was e-mails how you first made contact?

WIRTH: When that e-mail came -- yes, when that e-mail came over my computer at the office, my wife was reading the e-mails, and she called me, so excited and crying. She said you just cannot believe who has contacted you after 21 years, Elizabeth Carr. I was so impressed.

You know, back at her birth, 21 years ago, I was very nervous and concerned, because the world was watching Elizabeth Carr and what we were doing. And Elizabeth came out, and she cried, and soon as I saw and touched her, I fell in love with her, because she stopped crying and she acted perfectly, and she was a calm, easily to parent child in the nursery, and she made all of us look good.

KAGAN: Well, you can tell she's still doing that. Quickly, Elizabeth, I just want some advice, some quick advice from you. All these years later, a million children have been born in the same way you were born. So that's not different. But to kids growing up that might have whatever about them that makes them different, what kind of advice would you give them?

CARR: Well, the bottom line with me and with anyone else, is you're not different, we're all normal, and everybody has different things that they have to go through in their life. And this just happened to be my thing that made me a little more special, and really Dr. Wirth's letter just told me that I was special because I was my parents' child, and that goes for everyone.

WIRTH: That's exactly right. And the reason why she was so calm and peaceful in the nursery, was because of the love and attention that her parents gave. In spite of the uniqueness of her conception, they had this wonderful quality of a spiritual optimism, that regardless of what happened, everything was going to be all right, and that built a peaceful womb around Elizabeth, and that's why she was so quiet in the nursery, and such a vivacious, outgoing, successful 21- year-old now.

KAGAN: Well, clearly whatever was done from the first moment on has been good work on everybody's part involved. Dr. Wirth, thank you. Elizabeth, thank you. And come do some good here work for us at CNN. Clearly, you're good at doing research, Elizabeth.

CARR: I will. Take care.

KAGAN: Good to have you both with us.

WIRTH: Thank you.

KAGAN: Thank you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired October 3, 2003 - 11:27   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Her birth made headlines, but it was a letter from her doctor that left a lasting impression on America's first test tube baby. That letter told Elizabeth Carr that she was a normal human being despite her then unusual conception. The doctor echoed that sentiment a year later.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. FRED WIRTH, NEONATOLOGIST: So it is our impression at this time with her normal growth and development, her lack of interim diseases and the multiple diagnostic evaluation, that she is a healthy 1-year-old child who has a very bright and happy future.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: Well, that was some good predictions, because look who's here, Elizabeth Carr. She is now a college sophomore who was recently reunited with her very first doctor. She's in Boston, and in Albuquerque, neonatologist Dr. Fred Wirth, Carr's doctor, and the author of a book on prenatal parenting.

Hello to both of you.

WIRTH: Hello.

ELIZABETH CARR, AMERICA'S FIRST TEST TUBE BABY: Good morning.

WIRTH: Hi, Elizabeth.

CARR: How are you?

KAGAN: There you go.

Doctor, let me go ahead and start with you. Take us back 21 years. Not only was this incredible birth taking place, but you felt the need or the desire to write this letter to this little creature, to this little baby. Why did you feel you need to that?

WIRTH: Because of the circumstances surrounding her conception. And I wanted to reassure her that in spite of that, she's a perfectly happy, healthy, normal, newborn baby, and she amazed all of us in the delivery room. I also wanted to tell her how courageous her parents were and how much they loved her from the very conception.

KAGAN: Well, you can see they did some good work just by looking at this young woman.

WIRTH: Absolutely. Absolutely.

KAGAN: Elizabeth, let's bring you in. So you've had this letter all your life, and you've had a chance to read it a number of times. What did it mean to you as you were growing up to have something like that?

CARR: Well, it was just an outside source telling me that I was normal and healthy, which was amazing to me, because my parents were supposed to say things like that. But this letter, growing up reading it was really a pleasure. It really got me through some tough times.

KAGAN: And so here you are all grown up, a beautiful young woman. You're a budding journalist. We'll have to get you here into CNN at some point. We'll talk about that later. But you decided you wanted to do some research and track down the man, the doctor that wrote this letter. How was that?

CARR: That's right. Well, one day standing around my cubicle at a newspaper that I was working at, in Virginia, I mentioned to a reporter, a friend, that I had this doctor that I hadn't meant, which is one of the few team members that I hadn't met before, and said that I wanted to track him down, and so we searched all summer, and I have been searching for a few years before, and we finally managed to find him. So I was very excited to meet him and talk to him.

KAGAN: And so, Dr. Wirth, now it was your turn to be on the receiving end, and I think it was e-mails how you first made contact?

WIRTH: When that e-mail came -- yes, when that e-mail came over my computer at the office, my wife was reading the e-mails, and she called me, so excited and crying. She said you just cannot believe who has contacted you after 21 years, Elizabeth Carr. I was so impressed.

You know, back at her birth, 21 years ago, I was very nervous and concerned, because the world was watching Elizabeth Carr and what we were doing. And Elizabeth came out, and she cried, and soon as I saw and touched her, I fell in love with her, because she stopped crying and she acted perfectly, and she was a calm, easily to parent child in the nursery, and she made all of us look good.

KAGAN: Well, you can tell she's still doing that. Quickly, Elizabeth, I just want some advice, some quick advice from you. All these years later, a million children have been born in the same way you were born. So that's not different. But to kids growing up that might have whatever about them that makes them different, what kind of advice would you give them?

CARR: Well, the bottom line with me and with anyone else, is you're not different, we're all normal, and everybody has different things that they have to go through in their life. And this just happened to be my thing that made me a little more special, and really Dr. Wirth's letter just told me that I was special because I was my parents' child, and that goes for everyone.

WIRTH: That's exactly right. And the reason why she was so calm and peaceful in the nursery, was because of the love and attention that her parents gave. In spite of the uniqueness of her conception, they had this wonderful quality of a spiritual optimism, that regardless of what happened, everything was going to be all right, and that built a peaceful womb around Elizabeth, and that's why she was so quiet in the nursery, and such a vivacious, outgoing, successful 21- year-old now.

KAGAN: Well, clearly whatever was done from the first moment on has been good work on everybody's part involved. Dr. Wirth, thank you. Elizabeth, thank you. And come do some good here work for us at CNN. Clearly, you're good at doing research, Elizabeth.

CARR: I will. Take care.

KAGAN: Good to have you both with us.

WIRTH: Thank you.

KAGAN: Thank you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com