On This Day 1978: first ever test tube baby born

The 25th July 1978 signalled a major scientific breakthrough: the first ever ‘test tube baby’.

Born through a process known as IVF (In Vitro fertilisation), a female egg is fertilised by a sperm from outside the body. It is implanted in the womb after being fertilised in a laboratory. A type of assisted reproductive technology, Louise Brown was born healthily through caesarean section.