Jean Marian Purdy remembered – the hidden life of an IVF pioneer

Abstract

Jean Purdy is almost forgotten as one of the British trio that introduced clinical IVF to the world. An unlikely pioneer, she qualified as a nurse but through indefatigable effort and unstinting loyalty to a programme that faced vitriolic opposition she became the clinical embryologist for the first IVF baby. In 1980, she helped to launch fertility services as the ‘Technical Director’ of Bourn Hall Clinic, near Cambridge. Although Robert Edwards and Patrick Steptoe generously credited her role in research and clinical care, a premature death in 1985 at age 39 robbed her of the reward of witnessing the blossoming of assisted reproductive technologies for patients around the world. This commentary seeks to recognize her contribution and bring her name to the attention of professionals in reproductive medicine and the patients they care for.

Keywords:

• Bioethics
• in vitro fertilization
• infertility

Disclosure statement

The author reports no conflict of interest but is grateful to Lucinda Veeck Gosden, Barry Bavister, Kay Elder and John Purdy for reading the manuscript, supplying photographs and sharing memories.