The moment when history was made

ROBERT EDWARDS and Patrick Steptoe at a press conference on the birth of the world’s first test-tube baby

Professor Edwards vividly remembers Louise’s birth by Caesarean section, including the reactions of people in the operating theatre.

“Patrick Steptoe was doing the Caesarean section,” he said.

“Suddenly the baby cried, screamed. People said ‘Oooh, what’s that?’.

“Patrick said ‘You need not bother about that, that means she’s got damned good lungs’. I’ll never forget that, old Steppy. We were amazed and delighted. He handed the baby to nurses and to me and we held her in our arms.”

But Prof Edwards, who was awarded the CBE in 1988, has said: “I think the birth of a child is the greatest thing that can happen, and anybody that gets in the way should be pushed to one side. It is the number one thing.

“In my opinion, all IVF should be funded by the state. You shouldn’t have to pay for it.”

Prof Edwards was educated at Manchester Central High School and saw service in the Army from 1944 to 1948.

He studied at the universities of Bangor in Wales, and Edinburgh, before working at the National Institute for Medical Research in London.

He began his long association with Cambridge University in 1963 and was scientific director at Bourn Hall from 1980 to 1990.

He was appointed an emeritus professor at Cambridge University in 1989.