IVF world firsts
Prof. Simon Fishel with the world's first SUZI treatment baby
Our teams are dedicated to improving the quality and success of fertility treatment for everyone who needs our help and we have led the way in fertility research since 1978.
Our scientists have made a number of groundbreaking discoveries and advancements – and many of these have been global and UK firsts. You can read here about some of the achievements our team have made over the years.
1978
World's first IVF baby
1981
First male factor patients treated
1982
Britain's first IVF twins
1982
World's first baby delivered after intrauterine sperm/egg transfer
1984
Britain's first IVF triplets
1984
World's first baby from blastocyst transfer
1987
World's first babies (twins) born after frozen embryo donated eggs
1988
World's first baby born after home monitoring of fertility treatment
1989
Britain's first babies (twins) born after host surrogacy
1990
World's first baby born after micro-injection
1992
Britain's first SUZI treatment (sub-zonal insemination) baby
1992
Britain's first "sugar drop" frozen embryo baby (vitrification)
1994
World's first CISS baby
1994
Britain's first triplets born after host surrogacy
1996
World's first testicular spermatid baby
1996
Britain's first pregnancy using maternal host grandmother
1997
World's first pre-cancer treatment recovery of testicular material from a pre-pubescent boy to preserve his fertility
1999
World's first IVF baby for cystic fibrosis patient
1999
World's first baby for man using Multiple Ejaculate Resuspension Centrifugation (MERC)
2001
UK's first licence awarded for PGD and HLA tissue typing
2002
Embryo chromosome (aneuploidy) screening licence awarded
2004
First NHS funded treatment for PGD and HLA tissue typing
2007
Europe's first baby born following embryo screening using Comparative Genomic Hybridisation (CGH)
2008
WOrld's first pregnancy using Array CGH
2009
Birth of World's first baby following array CGH screening
2010
UK's first baby born through PGD for HLA tissue matching
2010
UK's first baby to be born using blastocyst chromosome screening
2010
First multi-factorial genetic chromosome tissue typing and translocation analysis of embryos in an IVF cycle
2010
World first screening for the AnnexinV M2 haplotype mutation for miscarriage in IVF (C4M2)
2011
First UK birth using CAREmaps
2011
World first births following C4M2 screening during IVF
2015
The first book published on time lapse embryology
2016
World's first publications on C4M2 screening during IVF