Patrick Steptoe

Patrick Christopher Steptoe (June 9,1913, Witney, England - March 21,1988) was a British obstetrician and gynaecologist and a pioneer of fertility treatment. Steptoe was responsible with biologist and physiologist Robert Edwards for developing in vitro fertilisation. The birth of the first test-tube baby, Louise Joy Brown, occurred on July 25, 1978.

Laparoscopic Pioneer

After the second World War, he studied obstetrics and, in 1951 he started to work at the Oldham General Hospital. From Dr. Raoul Palmer he learned the technique of laparoscopy and promoted its usefulness. In 1967 he published a book on Laparoscopy in Gynaecology. Subsequently, Robert Edwards, a physiologist from the University of Cambridge, contacted him and got him interested to collaborate in the development of in vitro fertilization.

Related Topics:
Oldham General Hospital - Raoul Palmer - Laparoscopy - Robert Edwards - University of Cambridge

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