CARE Fertility Group, London, United Kingdom.
Fertil Steril. 2018 Jul 1;110(1):5-11. doi: 10.1016/j.fertnstert.2018.03.008. Epub 2018 Jun 13.
On July 25, 1978, the first human was born following extracorporeal fertilization, an event that opened up a new medical science: expanding our knowledge of and developing novel treatments for infertility, radically changing the opportunities for families with inherited monogenic disorders, generating the new discipline of clinical embryology, and paving the way for studies into stem cell biology. In vitro fertilization (IVF), as it became known in its simplest form, went even further: it engaged the myriad of minds in human society. Not only were books written on the moral status of the human embryo, the ethics of IVF practice, and exercising governments on appropriate-which turned out to be disparate-regulation, it redefined family life! The prediction I made in 1985 that one day we may see five "parents" for one child became a reality quicker than we could have imagined at the time. The new medical science marched inexorably on in almost all countries of the world-a universal human plight at last had an opportunity for remedy: more than 10 million couples seeking a resolution to their infertility became parents, men who had no option to have their own genetic child became genetic fathers, and ever-increasing monogenic conditions were not being passed on to the next generation. The future may well bring to bear the opportunity for in vitro-developed viable gametes to generate successful pregnancies, and other "futuristic" opportunities for IVF science. But its story began over a century ago with seeking an understanding on how an egg matures and how to achieve successful fertilization-a fundamental scientific inquiry. It took one man to go beyond that scientific endeavor, to take head on a society unprepared and unwilling to accept human fertilization in vitro and unempathetic to the plight of the infertile; one man to see what prospects lay ahead for humanity should IVF become a reality, and for that man to battle every step of the way for nearly 2 decades to achieve that dream.
1978 年 7 月 25 日，首例通过体外受精孕育的人类婴儿诞生，这一事件开创了一门新的医学科学：拓宽了我们对不孕不育的认识并开发了新的治疗方法，彻底改变了携单基因遗传疾病家庭的机会，催生了临床胚胎学这一新学科，并为干细胞生物学研究铺平了道路。简单来说，体外受精（IVF）走得更远：它吸引了人类社会中无数人的关注。不仅有关于人类胚胎的道德地位、IVF 实践的伦理以及各国政府如何适当——事实证明是截然不同——监管的书籍问世，它还重新定义了家庭生活！我在 1985 年的预测，有朝一日我们可能会看到一个孩子有五个“父母”，这一预测比我们当时想象的实现得更快。这项新的医学科学在世界上几乎所有国家都不可阻挡地发展着——人类普遍的困境终于有了治愈的机会：超过 1000 万对寻求不孕不育解决方案的夫妇成为了父母，那些没有选择生育自己基因孩子的男性成为了基因父亲，越来越多的单基因疾病也没有遗传给下一代。未来很可能会为体外培养的可育配子带来成功怀孕的机会，以及其他“未来主义”的 IVF 科学机会。但它的故事可以追溯到一个多世纪前，当时人们试图了解卵子是如何成熟的，以及如何实现成功受精——这是一个基本的科学探究。正是有一个人超越了这一科学努力，直面一个对体外受精还没有准备好、不愿意接受的社会，对不孕不育者的困境缺乏同情心；正是有一个人看到了如果 IVF 成为现实，人类将会有怎样的前景，而这个人在近 20 年的时间里，为了实现这一梦想，在每一步都进行了斗争。
