Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Live Saturday
World's First Test Tube Baby Celebrates 25th Birthday
Aired July 26, 2003 - 18:23 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.
SOPHIA CHOI, CNN ANCHOR: Well, a quarter century ago, doctors and scientists did something everyone thought was impossible, bring forth the world's first test tube baby. Well, that infant, Louise Brown, is now 25-years old.
CNN's Paula Hancock says Brown's birthday is more than just a personal milestone, it's a medical one as well.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PAULA HANCOCK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A birthday party any 25-year old would be proud of, but this 25-year old just happens to be the world's first test tube baby.
On this special occasion, she makes a rare public appearance.
LOUISE BROWN, WORLD'S FIRST TEST TUBE BABY: I didn't really so special. They just told me -- well obviously they couldn't have children. And that Patrick Septer (ph) and Bob Edwards helped them. And that was it, really. And I was born in the normal way, but it was just the first step.
HANCOCK: A media shy girl who seems a little bemused by all the attention and in her words, is content to just plod along.
BROWN: My 21st, I had a party, but they (unintelligible) and they actually saw all the press and I was up in Blackpool for the weekend. So I thought we had that one quite well.
HANCOCK: Louise's birth began a revolution in fertility treatment, initially securing a three to six percent chance of success, today one in four women can be helped.
A figure IVF pioneer, Professor Bob Edwards, is delighted with, but he's been fighting the critics from day one.
BOB EDWARDS, PROFESSOR, IVF PIONEER: We've had to fight off all our critics. And they were numerous, many. Archbishops, Nobel prize winners, popes, they all had a go at us. But we had enough support, very few, but very precious.
HANCOCK: There wasn't a critic in sight at the Bornhorn (ph) Clinic. Thousands of parents coming to thank the man who made their families possible.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Words fail me. It's the contribution that they've made to the world is phenomenal. We just thank you both. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Twenty-five years on, that's proof to the world that it's amazing. And (unintelligible), I mean the figures speak for themselves. 1.5 million babies, I think, were out now.
HANCOCK: All the babies and children here today are only here because of IVF treatment.
(on camera): 1100 examples of just how far the technology's come over the last 25 years. But it doesn't end here. Some scientists are saying that within the next 10 years, infertility could be a thing of the past.
(voice-over): Using research from IVF technology, experts believe they will one day be able to solve their biggest problem of infertility, growing new eggs and sperm from stem cells for people who can no longer produce them.
25 years from her groundbreaking birth and Louise Brown is now a postal worker and engaged. She tells us that she has problems conceiving, she would turn to the same technology that brought her into the world.
Paula Hancock, CNN, Cambridge, England.
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 July 26, 2003 - 18:23 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOPHIA CHOI, CNN ANCHOR: Well, a quarter century ago, doctors and scientists did something everyone thought was impossible, bring forth the world's first test tube baby. Well, that infant, Louise Brown, is now 25-years old.
CNN's Paula Hancock says Brown's birthday is more than just a personal milestone, it's a medical one as well.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PAULA HANCOCK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A birthday party any 25-year old would be proud of, but this 25-year old just happens to be the world's first test tube baby.
On this special occasion, she makes a rare public appearance.
LOUISE BROWN, WORLD'S FIRST TEST TUBE BABY: I didn't really so special. They just told me -- well obviously they couldn't have children. And that Patrick Septer (ph) and Bob Edwards helped them. And that was it, really. And I was born in the normal way, but it was just the first step.
HANCOCK: A media shy girl who seems a little bemused by all the attention and in her words, is content to just plod along.
BROWN: My 21st, I had a party, but they (unintelligible) and they actually saw all the press and I was up in Blackpool for the weekend. So I thought we had that one quite well.
HANCOCK: Louise's birth began a revolution in fertility treatment, initially securing a three to six percent chance of success, today one in four women can be helped.
A figure IVF pioneer, Professor Bob Edwards, is delighted with, but he's been fighting the critics from day one.
BOB EDWARDS, PROFESSOR, IVF PIONEER: We've had to fight off all our critics. And they were numerous, many. Archbishops, Nobel prize winners, popes, they all had a go at us. But we had enough support, very few, but very precious.
HANCOCK: There wasn't a critic in sight at the Bornhorn (ph) Clinic. Thousands of parents coming to thank the man who made their families possible.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Words fail me. It's the contribution that they've made to the world is phenomenal. We just thank you both. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Twenty-five years on, that's proof to the world that it's amazing. And (unintelligible), I mean the figures speak for themselves. 1.5 million babies, I think, were out now.
HANCOCK: All the babies and children here today are only here because of IVF treatment.
(on camera): 1100 examples of just how far the technology's come over the last 25 years. But it doesn't end here. Some scientists are saying that within the next 10 years, infertility could be a thing of the past.
(voice-over): Using research from IVF technology, experts believe they will one day be able to solve their biggest problem of infertility, growing new eggs and sperm from stem cells for people who can no longer produce them.
25 years from her groundbreaking birth and Louise Brown is now a postal worker and engaged. She tells us that she has problems conceiving, she would turn to the same technology that brought her into the world.
Paula Hancock, CNN, Cambridge, England.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
