IVF was originally developed by Drs. Robert Edwards, an embryologist at Cambridge University, and Patrick Steptoe, an obstetrician/gynecologist with expertise in laparoscopy, and their nurse, Ms. Jean Purdy, during the late 1970s in the United Kingdom.

Their goal was to treat inoperable tubal disease. Retrieval of a single egg was performed by laparoscopy in a natural cycle. The first human pregnancy achieved was ectopic, i.e. located in the tube. The first live birth after fertilization in vitro (Latin for “in glass”) took place in England in 1978. The first birth in the United States was in 1981.

The major advances in IVF in the 1980s included: introduction and refinement of ovarian stimulation, embryo freezing, early egg donation and non-surgical ultrasound-guided ovum retrieval. In the 1990s the single major advance was the development of ICSI, MESA and TESE for severe male factor infertility. Cryopreservation of unfertilized eggs, fertility preservation and extended embryo culture have been among the notable advances in the first decade of the 21st century.