In July of this year, IVF will become 40 years old. Following that historic announcement in 1978, it is remarkable to consider what has been achieved. IVF is now a multi-billion-pound industry with many millions of babies born around the world. There is no doubt that during the inevitable celebrations to mark the 40th year, a glass or two will quite rightly be raised to the familiar names of Bob Edwards and Patrick Steptoe. However, in these pages of Human Fertility, we would like to mark the occasion with a tribute to a too often forgotten part of the story: the role of Jean Marian Purdy.
In this issue of the journal, we publish a commentary by Roger Gosden (Citation2018) who eloquently describes the role played by Jean in those early years at Dr Kershaw’s Cottage Hospital in Oldham and later at Bourn Hall Clinic just outside Cambridge. It is a remarkable story and one which we should try not to forget. For those who would like to read more, I also draw your attention to the speech by Andrew Steptoe (Patrick Steptoe’s son) we published in 2015 following the unveiling of a Blue Plaque at the Kershaw’s Hospice in Oldham, the former site of Dr Kershaw’s Cottage Hospital (Steptoe, Citation2015).
Also, in this issue, we publish our further original research papers that will be of interest to readers of Human Fertility. Editor’s highlights include the paper by Sharpe, Avery, and Choudhary (Citation2018), who report a retrospective analysis of the outcome of cycles of pre-implantation genetic diagnosis in the UK over the past 20 years, and a paper by Hærvig et al. (Citation2018), which investigates whether male factor infertility is associated with mid-life low-grade inflammation. However, I hope you enjoy reading all of the papers in this issue. And whilst you do, perhaps you can raise a glass to the memory of Jean Marian Purdy.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.
References
- Gosden, R. (2018). Jean Marian Purdy remembered – the hidden life of an IVF pioneer. Human Fertility, 21, 86–89. doi: 10.1080/14647273.2017.1351042.
- Hærvig, K.K., Kierkegaard, L., Lund, R., Bruunsgaard, H., Osler, M., & Schmidt, L. (2018). Is male factor infertility associated with midlife low-grade inflammation? A population based study. Human Fertility, 21, 146–154. doi: 10.1080/14647273.2017.1323278.
- Sharpe, A., Avery, P., & Choudhary, M. (2018). Reproductive outcome following pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) in the UK. Human Fertility, 21, 120–127. doi: 10.1080/14647273.2017.1336259.
- Steptoe, A. (2015). Changing the world – a tribute to Patrick Steptoe, Robert Edwards and Jean Purdy. Human Fertility, 18, 232–233. doi: 10.3109/14647273.2015.1077657.