Why Louise Joy Brown Was Incorrectly Called a “Test Tube Baby”

Showing how the in vitro fertilization process came about is at the center of the Netflix series Happiness
and from this it becomes evident how the babies that were born were never conceived in test tubes, yet that was the name that stuck. Throughout the biographical drama, Bob and Jean are frequently mesmerized by the progress made during the fertilization of the egg outside the uterus, especially seeing the cells form. The development of the in vitro fertilization process is the focus of Happinessand the drama has a factual approach that clashes strongly with the sensationalist attitude of the press, as shown Happiness.

IVF Babies Being Called Test Tube Babies Was Part of the Real Story Behind Happiness from the drama, with Happiness often closely showing the fury of the public during talk shows, of the scientists Bob knew commenting negatively on his research, and of the press, all directed at Bob, Jean and Patrick. Although Bob tried to get his detractors to empathize with the infertile people IVF was supposed to help, the common response was to reject IVF as a violation of nature. Happiness also made a point of highlighting how IVF babies were derogatorily called test tube babies.

‘Test Tube Baby’ is based on the incorrect notion that embryos are created in test tubes

How IVF worked was not widely known at the time.

Although the reference to babies born through IVF as test tube babies has declined over the years, it was very popular before and after the birth of Louise Joy Brown. In fact, if before her birth the focus was more on the practice of creating test-tube babies with the accompanying alarm, after Louise Brown’s birth she became known as the world’s first test-tube baby. The term test tube baby is, however, erroneous. Instead of happening in a test tube, embryos form in a Petri dish with in vitro fertilization.

However, not much was known about how IVF actually worked back when the news focused on IVF births. Furthermore, Steptoe, Purdy, and Edwards did not publish articles on the specific IVF process until several months after Alastair MacDonald’s birth.because they wanted to make sure it could be replicated (via Bourn Hall). This contributed to misinformation about IVF, and coupled with general public distrust, it made sense that the erroneous terminology would persist, especially after being used for so long in the early years since IVF’s development.

What the real Louise Joy Brown said about being called the “first test tube baby”

Louise Joy Brown never liked being called that

Louise Joy Brown admitted “I hate the word test tube, baby”, despite being used to being called that, having always been referred to as such (via Sky News). The fact that she was the first baby born through IVF meant Louise Brown’s life after the events of Happiness it would always be linked to scientific advancement. Despite not liking the terminology, Brown happily defended IVF, becoming an activist and even writing his autobiography, necessarily intertwined with the history of IVF whose adaptation Happiness appropriately brought to the screen.

Sources: Bourn Hall, News from the sky