What is a Test-Tube Baby?
The eggs and sperm are both taken out of the body and allowed to fertilize in an artificially controlled environment outside the body. Then, the early-stage embryo is transplanted into the woman’s uterus, where it develops into a child. Children conceived through in vitro fertilization are called “test-tube babies,” but they still grow inside their mother’s womb. It can be said that “test-tube baby technology” is equivalent to “in vitro fertilization.”
Why Do Older Women Struggle with Fertility and Why Do IVF Cycles Often Fail Repeatedly?
In an egg cell, the core part is the egg nucleus that carries the genetic DNA material. The development of the egg nucleus directly determines the chances of conception and the health of the baby. The cytoplasm of the egg cell, which provides energy and nutrients to the egg nucleus, determines whether the egg nucleus develops well.
For women over 35, the nutritional content in the cytoplasm of their eggs gradually becomes insufficient, failing to provide adequate nutrition to the egg nucleus. This can lead to chromosomal abnormalities within the egg nucleus, resulting in a variety of congenital genetic disorders in the baby.
For women who have experienced repeated failures in IVF cycles, the majority of the failures are also due to poor egg quality, which leads to poor-quality fertilized eggs. These eggs often fail to pass the PGS/PGD screening. Even if they do pass the screening, they may still face difficulties in implantation and a higher risk of miscarriage.
Third-Generation IVF Technology (PGT)
PGT (Preimplantation Genetic Testing for Aneuploidy) is a genetic test performed on embryos produced through in vitro fertilization. PGT provides information about the genetic health of embryos, helping to select the best embryo for transfer and increasing the chances of a successful pregnancy. Previously known as PGS (Preimplantation Genetic Screening), PGT involves screening IVF embryos for chromosomal number before transfer. Embryos with incorrect numbers of chromosomes (also known as aneuploid embryos) usually lead to miscarriage or genetic defects in the child after birth.
Advantages of Third-Generation IVF
All embryos are screened via PGS/PGD before transfer, which diagnoses any abnormalities in the embryos and selects healthy ones for implantation. This effectively avoids the risk of pregnancy termination due to genetic diseases and ensures higher implantation and live birth rates for the transferred blastocysts, truly achieving the goal of better births.
The Process of Third-Generation IVF
Test Tube Baby First
In July 1978, the world's first test-tube baby was born in the UK. This was the result of the joint research by Dr. Steptoe and Dr. Edowrds and was hailed as a miracle in the history of human medicine. At Oldham Hospital, under the care of Dr. John Webster, the world's first test-tube baby was born. She was a girl named Louise Brown. Louise weighed about 2.6 kilograms at birth, had blonde hair and blue eyes, and appeared very healthy.
Today, Louise Brown is married and has given birth to healthy children. Therefore, the claim circulating online that test-tube babies are not as healthy as naturally conceived children is not true.
World Records of Test-Tube Baby Births
- July 25, 1978 - United Kingdom - Female - The world's first test-tube baby was born.
- October 3, 1978 - India - Female - The first test-tube baby in India was born.
- January 14, 1979 - United Kingdom - Male - The first male baby born through IVF in the UK.
- June 23, 1979 - Australia - Female - The first test-tube baby in Australia was born.
- June 6, 1980 - Australia - One male and one female - The world's first IVF twins (one boy and one girl) were born.
- October 19, 1981 - United Kingdom - Female - The first mixed-race (black and white) test-tube baby was born.
- December 28, 1981 - United States - Female - The first test-tube baby in the United States was born.
- January 20, 1982 - Greece - Female - The first test-tube baby in Greece was born.
- February 24, 1982 - France - Female - The first test-tube baby in France was born.
- June 25, 1982 - United Kingdom - Female - The second test-tube baby born to the first test-tube baby mother.
- September 22, 1982 - Israel - Female - The first test-tube baby in Israel was born.
- September 27, 1982 - Sweden - Female - The first test-tube baby in Sweden was born.
- May 20, 1983 - Singapore - Male - The first test-tube baby in Southeast Asia was born.
- June 8, 1983 - Australia - Two females and one male - The world's first IVF triplets (two girls and one boy) were born.
- January 16, 1984 - Australia - Four males - The world's first IVF quadruplets (all boys) were born.
- April 16, 1985 - Taiwan, China - Male - The first test-tube baby in Taiwan was born.
- March 10, 1988 - China - Female - The first test-tube baby in China was born.
- ......
- Nowadays, the number of test-tube babies born worldwide has far exceeded 5 million.