The first IVF baby in history, Louise Joy Brown, is joining the More Joy campaign as an ambassador. This is a very exciting development for IFFS and our efforts to make fertility care more affordable, accessible, and equitable.
The exciting announcement was made via video at the IFFS World Congress in Tokyo in April and will be followed by an in-person appearance by Louise at a meeting of the Mexican Association of Reproductive Medicine in Mexico on her birthday, July 25.
Louise was born in England in 1978, the first successful IVF birth. She was profiled in People magazine last year and her story is the subject of a Netflix documentary called Joy: The Birth of IVF.
Louise’s birth also inspired now IFFS president Dr. Marcos Horton to become a fertility physician. “I was 13 when Louise Brown was born,” Dr. Horton says. “I was on my way to school and saw the paper and thought it was amazing and decided that’s what I wanted to do when I grow up.”
Now Louise and IFFS are working together to expand the reach of the More Joy campaign.
“The More Joy campaign will be getting people talking about how we can help everyone who wants a child to have access to the help and support they need,” Louise said in a video statement at the Tokyo World Congress meeting. “My Mum and Dad tried for ten years to have a baby before the scientific breakthrough that resulted in my birth. There are now over 14 million IVF babies in the world.”
“It is vital all these years later that all women and men have access to quality fertility and reproductive health services.”
We look forward to working with Louise and thank her for helping us to expand the reach of the More Joy campaign.