Pop History Moment: The Birth of Louise Brown

On this day in 1978 the world's first test tube baby, Louise Brown, was born at Oldham and District Hospital near Manchester. Needless to say, those responsible have continued to monitor the notoriously press-shy girl as she grew into womanhood for possible side-effects related to the unusual manner of her conception, and none have as yet been detected...

Something about this story so riveted my eight-year-old brain that I still, to this day, don't fully understand my fascination. Certainly, little me would have enjoyed the triumph of science over Nature, as I was quite the little Tory back then.

Mainly, though, I can remember thinking that with this girl's birth, something greater than one little life was achieved. There have been many days since then that have felt like a clear line had been drawn between the past and the present, but that, I guess, was the first.

Of course, it's possible many of you out there agree with me... Or not. Either way - and whatever your take on reproductive technology is - since I first published this post two years ago it has been consistently among the Pop Culture Institute's top ten hit-getters.
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