Patrick Steptoe was a British obstetrician and gynecologist who, with the physiologist Robert Edwards and the embryologist Jean Purdy, developed in vitro fertilization (IVF). Steptoe performed the laparoscopic egg retrievals central to the technique, refining laparoscopy itself as a gynecological tool along the way. The team's work led to the birth of Louise Brown, the first person born through IVF, on 25 July 1978. Steptoe died in 1988, two years before the 2010 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine recognized the discovery; since the Nobel is never awarded posthumously, he was excluded from a prize his own surgical skill had made possible.
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Patrick Steptoe
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IVF collaborators.
Source Robert Edwards (Wikipedia)
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Source Patrick Steptoe (Wikipedia)
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Source Patrick Steptoe (Wikipedia)
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1. Wikidata: Patrick Steptoe
- Wikidata Q669426, class allow-list match (w-wdresolver-0926)
- Wikidata P569 (w-bbfill-medicine3-0926)
View the Source2. Patrick Steptoe (Wikipedia)
Wikipedia- Career; Laparoscopy; 1978 birth of Louise Brown; Death and the 2010 Nobel Prize
- Discoveries: In Vitro Fertilization
- Specialist In: Obstetrics and Gynecology
View the Source Robert Edwards (Wikipedia)
Frequently Asked Questions
Why did Patrick Steptoe not share in the 2010 Nobel Prize for in vitro fertilization?
He died in 1988 and the Nobel Prize is not awarded posthumously.
Steptoe died in 1988, two years before the 2010 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine recognized the discovery. The Nobel Prize is not awarded posthumously, so he was excluded from a prize that his own surgical skill, the laparoscopic egg retrievals central to the technique, had helped make possible.
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