Patrick Steptoe

Patrick Steptoe
Born Patrick Christopher Steptoe
(1913-06-09)9 June 1913
Oxford, England
Died 21 March 1988(1988-03-21) (aged 74)
Canterbury
Fields
Institutions
Alma mater
Known for in vitro fertilization
Notable awards
Bourn Hall Clinic

Patrick Christopher Steptoe CBE FRS[1] (9 June 1913, Oxford, England – 21 March 1988, Canterbury) was a British obstetrician and gynaecologist and a pioneer of fertility treatment. Steptoe was responsible with biologist and physiologist Robert Edwards for developing in vitro fertilization. Louise Joy Brown, the first test-tube baby, was born on 25 July 1978.[2][3] Edwards was awarded the 2010 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his work on the development of in vitro fertilization, however because the Nobel Prize is not awarded posthumously, Steptoe was not eligible for consideration.[4]

Education

Steptoe was educated at The Grammar School, Witney (since 1968 the comprehensive Henry Box School) in Oxfordshire. He went to King's College London and graduated from St George's Hospital Medical School, London in 1939.

Laparoscopy pioneer

After the Second World War, he studied obstetrics and, in 1951 he started to work at the Oldham General Hospital. From Raoul Palmer he learned the technique of laparoscopy and promoted its usefulness. In 1967 he published a book on Laparoscopy in Gynaecology. Subsequently, Robert Edwards, a physiologist from the University of Cambridge, contacted him and got him interested to collaborate in the development of in vitro fertilization.[5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17]

Work with Edwards

Steptoe became the Director of the Centre for Human Reproduction, Oldham in 1969. Using laparoscopy, he collected the ova from volunteering infertile women who saw his place as their last hope to achieve a pregnancy. Edwards and his assistant Jean Purdy provided the laboratory expertise. During this time they had to endure criticism and hostility to their work. Finally, in 1978, the birth of Louise Brown changed everything. Although he encountered further criticism, other clinics were able to follow the lead and patients responded. To accommodate the increased patient number and train specialists, he and Edwards founded the Bourn Hall Clinic, Cambridgeshire in 1980 of which he was a Medical Director until his death.[18]

Awards and honours

Steptoe was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in March 1987 [1] His nomination reads:

“ Steptoe was the first in Britain to use laparoscopy for the routine diagnosis of gynaecological disorders, and the first anywhere to use it as a standard technique for sterilization. He sought to develop it for the treatment of infertility and, by 1969, succeeded in using it for the first time to recover oocytes from preovulatory ovaries. During the next ten years he recovered many oocytes, which were fertilized and nurtured by Edwards, and implanted them in the uterus through the cervix uteri, thus helping to clarify many fundamental aspects of human ovulation, fertilization, and implantation. After more than 100 attempts a pregnancy was obtained which was carried to term. Now the technique, as used by Steptoe and others, is so successful that almost a third of women accepted for treatment have healthy infants. His achievement is particularly remarkable as it was obtained in a district hospital with only local backing.[19] ”

A plaque was unveiled at the Bourn Hall Clinic in July 2013 by Louise Brown and Alastair MacDonald - the world's first IVF baby boy - commemorating Steptoe and Edwards.[20][21] Steptoe is also commemorated with a plaque at the Maternity Ward at the Royal Oldham Hospital.[22]

Steptoe is buried in Bourn churchyard.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Edwards, R. G. (1996). "Patrick Christopher Steptoe, C. B. E. 9 June 1913 – 22 March 1988". Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society. 42: 434–426. doi:10.1098/rsbm.1996.0027. PMID 11619339.
  2. ↑ "1978: First 'test tube baby' born". BBC. 25 July 1978. Retrieved 2009-06-13. The birth of the world's first "test tube baby" has been announced in Manchester (England). Louise Brown was born shortly before midnight in Oldham and District General Hospital
  3. ↑ Moreton, Cole (14 January 2007). "World's first test-tube baby Louise Brown has a child of her own". London: Independent. Retrieved 21 May 2010. The 28-year-old, whose pioneering conception by in-vitro fertilisation made her famous around the world. The fertility specialists Patrick Steptoe and Bob Edwards became the first to successfully carry out IVF by extracting an egg, impregnating it with sperm and planting the resulting embryo back into the mother
  4. ↑ "The 2010 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine - Press Release". Nobelprize.org. 2010-10-04. Retrieved 2010-10-04.
  5. ↑ Litynski, G. S. (1998). "Patrick C. Steptoe: Laparoscopy, sterilization, the test-tube baby, and mass media". JSLS : Journal of the Society of Laparoendoscopic Surgeons / Society of Laparoendoscopic Surgeons. 2 (1): 99–101. PMC 3015256Freely accessible. PMID 9876723.
  6. ↑ "Dr. Steptoe's full report--at last". Medical world news. 20 (4): 10–11+. 1979. PMID 11645394.
  7. ↑ Weintraub, R. M. (1978). "First test-tube baby born in British hospital". The Washington Post: A1+. PMID 11648723.
  8. ↑ Gwynne, P; Collings, A; Gastel, B (1978). "The test-tube baby". Newsweek. 92 (4): 76. PMID 11662500.
  9. ↑ Nossiter, B (1978). "Test tube baby 'well': Doctors predict more successes". The Washington Post: A1+. PMID 11648647.
  10. ↑ "By-passing a block to conception". Times (London, England : 1788): 15. 1978. PMID 11648651.
  11. ↑ Hathout, H (1978). "Test tube babies!". The Journal of the Kuwait Medical Association. 12 (3): 135–6. PMID 11662645.
  12. ↑ Shearer, L (1978). "Next: Twin tube babies?". Parade (New York, N.Y.): 23. PMID 12088000.
  13. ↑ Cohn, V (1978). "Test-tube baby pioneer urges easing of curbs". The Washington Post: A26. PMID 11648949.
  14. ↑ Hand, G. O. (1978). "The manipulation of existence: Conceiving the inconceivable". Vital speeches of the day. 45 (4): 98–102. PMID 11662640.
  15. ↑ "In vitro fertilization questions remain: No ethics problem, Dr. Steptoe says". American medical news. 22 (8): 1, 15–6. 1979. PMID 10315865.
  16. ↑ "That baby again". Time. 113 (8): 82. 1979. PMID 11665072.
  17. ↑ Edwards, R. G. (1996). "The history of assisted human conception with especial reference to endocrinology". Experimental and Clinical Endocrinology & Diabetes. 104 (3): 183–204. doi:10.1055/s-0029-1211443. PMID 8817236.
  18. ↑ Johnson, M. H.; Franklin, S. B.; Cottingham, M.; Hopwood, N. (2010). "Why the Medical Research Council refused Robert Edwards and Patrick Steptoe support for research on human conception in 1971". Human Reproduction. 25 (9): 2157–74. doi:10.1093/humrep/deq155. PMID 20657027.
  19. ↑ "EC/1987/37: Steptoe, Patrick Christopher". London: The Royal Society. Archived from the original on 2014-12-05.
  20. ↑ Kendall, Ben (26 July 2013). "World's first test-tube baby hails pioneers on 35th birthday". Oldham Chronicle. Retrieved 6 November 2016.
  21. ↑ "35 years of IVF celebrated by the first 'test-tube' baby at Bourn Hall Clinic". Bourn Hall Clinic. 25 July 2013. Retrieved 6 November 2016.
  22. ↑ "Blue Plaques". Oldham Council. Retrieved 6 November 2016.
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