World’s first test-tube baby gives birth to ‘perfect’ boy

LOUISE Brown, the world’s first test-tube baby, has proudly spoken about her own “perfect” baby boy.

Ms Brown, 28, was able to conceive her own baby, named Cameron, naturally — but he needed to be delivered by a Caesarean operation — as she was herself.

But amid the baby joy, the family has also suffered sadness. Ms Brown’s father John died days before Cameron was born.

Ms Brown’s birth, on July 25, 1978, followed a decade of research into fertilising human eggs outside the body.

She was born at the Royal Oldham Hospital thanks to the efforts of Dr Robert Edwards, who jointly invented the IVF technique that led to her birth, and the late Dr Patrick Steptoe, a gynaecologist at the hospital.

Ms Brown wed husband Wesley Mullinder, 37, in 2004 — and Cameron was born last month, a couple of weeks early.

“He’s tiny, just under 6lb, but he’s perfect,” said Ms Browne.

“We were lucky in that Wesley and I were able to conceive naturally. We’d only been trying for about six months so it was obviously much easier for us than for mum and dad.

“I don’t know if the fact that they tried so hard to have a baby had any effect on me but I have always wanted children.

“I worked as a nursery nurse for three years and I always knew that one day I would want to have my own.”

She said she needed no extra precautions or checks but she did need a Caesarean operation as Cameron was breached.

“It’s not how I wanted to do things but the main thing is that he’s safe and healthy,” she said.

Ms Brown’s father died from lung cancer shortly before his 65th birthday.