The World's First IVF Baby: Louise Brown Tells Her Story | The Six O'Clock Show

Louise Brown’s Birth and Childhood

Louise Brown recounts that her parents tried for nine years to have a child before a Bristol gynecologist told them their chances were about one in a million. They joined an experimental programme in Oldham, around 400 miles away. Before treatment could begin, Louise’s mother needed an operation to remove her fallopian tubes. Her father’s £500 win on the football pools helped pay for it.

Louise was born in Oldham and stayed there for 12 days amid intense media attention before she could be taken home. She remembers her mother’s first outing with her: people at a bakery asked to see the “test tube baby,” then declared her “normal.” Louise jokes that her mother wondered what they had expected—“someone with two heads?”

Doctors ran more than 100 tests, even taking Louise’s fingerprints, but found nothing wrong. She says she hasn’t been tested since.

When Louise was four, her parents showed her a video of her birth so she’d know what to say if other children asked questions. The footage was “a bit bloody and a bit gory,” but she took it in stride.

At school, classmates asked how she got out of a test tube. Louise pointed out that no test tube was used, joking that the story made it sound as if she’d been placed in one under a heat lamp and “cooked.” She says she had a good experience with the same group of children throughout school, and that sex education later helped her fully understand what made her birth historic.

Personalities Mentioned

• Louise Brown
• Her parents
• Dr Patrick Steptoe
• Dr Hinton