Patrick Steptoe

Patrick Christopher Steptoe (born June 9, 1913 in Witney , England , † March 21, 1988 in Canterbury ) was a British gynecologist and a pioneer in the field of artificial reproduction . Steptoe developed together with the physiologist Robert Edwards , the in-vitro fertilization .

Life

Patrick Steptoe received his education from King's College and St. George's Hospital Medical School in London . After the Second World War he studied obstetrics . In 1951 he began working at Oldham General Hospital. Steptoe learned laparoscopy from Raoul Palmer and published the book Laparoscopy in Gynecology in 1967 . As a result of this publication, Robert Edwards of Cambridge University sought contact with Patrick Steptoe.

In 1969, Steptoe received a degree from Western Connecticut State University .

Services

Bourn Hall Clinic

In 1969 Steptoe was appointed director of the Clinic for Reproductive Medicine in Oldham . With the help of laparoscopy, he collected eggs from sterile women who had volunteered . These women saw this as their only option for pregnancy . Robert Edwards and his assistant Jean Purdy experimented with the cultivation and fertilization of the egg cells. The embryos were then transferred back into the uterine cavity by Steptoe .

In 1978 they first had success with the birth of Louise Joy Brown . Although the experiments received a great deal of criticism, it was also possible to carry out artificial insemination in other clinics . Due to the ever increasing demand, Steptoe and Edwards founded the Bourne Hall Clinic in Cambridgeshire in 1980 . Steptoe was the medical director of this clinic until his death.

Publications

• A matter of life. How the first "Test Tube Baby" was Conceived and Born. Together with Robert Edwards. Morrow, New York 1980.