This post is mainly for myself. Most people outside the realm of infertility will probably find this information unimportant or even boring. And that is fine.
On Friday July 25th, Louise Joy Brown turned 30. Do you know who she is or why she is known to anyone outside of England? She was the first baby ever born as a result of In Vitro Fertilisation, the very procedure that lead to the birth of Bailey and Cooper. She also, has a sister, Natalie, also born through IVF and the first person conceived via IVF to go on and get pregnant naturally.
In 1977, when Louise was conceived, treatment for infertilty was just really beginning to be addressed. Since that first successful IVF cycle there have been more than 3 million babies born worldwide. That means 3 million successful attempts, with a success rate of about 25% depending on the clinic and the various reasons for the infertility (I myself had two unsuccessful bouts before falling pregnant with the twins) that would translate to possibly as many as 12 million IVF cycles. Maybe more considering that in the beginning the odds weren't even 25%.
So anyways, Happy Belated Birthday Louise, I think it's pretty cool that you're alive.
I don't think it is that big a deal that our children were conceived in this fashion (especially with our Abstinence Forever plan that we are going to teach the twins). The doctors didn't alter them, didn't single them out or do any genetic testing on them. They just helped two people who wanted to be parents achieve their dream.
So in addition to Ms. Brown, here's to the Anniversary of IVF.
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