ALMOST five decades after her birth that made headlines, Louise Brown is used to strangers saying “thank you”.

But the 46-year-old bakery worker who was the world’s first IVF baby is hoping for a new film will shower deserved praise on the British pioneers who developed the ‘miracle technique’, despite huge controversy at the time.

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Netflix the drama Joy – who goes by Louise’s middle name – reveals the sacrifices made by the determined trio of Robert Edwards, Jean Purdy and Patrick Steptoe.

Scientist Robert was forced to work 170 miles from his family home because the medical establishment did not fund his research.

Embryology nurse Jean was at odds with her religious mother.

And gynecological surgeon Patrick had to put his retirement dreams on hold.

Even worse, “Frankenbabies” were hacked into their clinic wall, receiving death threats and despicable messages being sent to newborn Louise.

The perfect candidate

Skeptics demanded proof that Louise’s mother, Lesley, was indeed infertile and argued that the child would be abnormal.

But a perfectly healthy Louise was born on July 25, 1978, proving them wrong – as did the arrival of 12 million more IVFs. the babies since then.

Appreciation for the dedicated team was long overdue, with Jean and Patrick both dying before the Nobel committee recognized the incredible achievements in 2010.

The award cannot be given posthumously, so only Sir Robert was named on the award.

Louise says in an exclusive interview: “I still get people coming up to me and saying, ‘Oh, you’re amazing.’

And I say: “I didn’t do anything, it was mom and dad and the three doctors.”

“They are nice people who want to please them.

“It’s a shame I can’t be here to see the movie and my mom wasn’t there to watch it with me.”

Released on the streaming service next Friday, the film features James Norton as Robert, Bill Nighy as Patrick and Thomasin McKenzie as Jean.

Dr. Edwards began researching fertilization in 1955 and hired Jean to join his laboratory at Cambridge University in 1968.

That year, he successfully fertilized a human embryo.

Patrick was brought in to find a way to safely and successfully insert the fertilized egg into the uterus.

As the medical board was unwilling to fund research, the trio had to set up a clinic in a disused ward of the Royal Oldham Hospital in 1969, where Robert had worked.

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That meant a lot of travel for the father-of-five, whose family remained in Cambridge, and the growing notoriety of their Center for Human Reproduction was also unsettling.

Louise, who still resides in Bristolsays: “Many efforts went into this, staying away from their families, and Jean quarreled with her mother, who was very religious.”

Both those Church of England and the Catholic Church opposed it science having a hand at birth.

Of the first 100 mothers-to-be, only one became pregnant, which tragically resulted in an ectopic. task — if the fertilized egg has implanted outside the uterus and cannot develop properly.

That was all to change when Robert decided to remove the growth hormone he was using to stimulate a patient’s ovaries and instead use the egg they produced naturally each month.

Louise says: “Mum has been trying to get pregnant for about ten years.

“He went to her place GPand they diagnosed her with depression because I couldn’t get pregnant.”

Lesley was referred to a specialist who said there was “a million to one chance of her having a baby” because her fallopian tubes were blocked.

They recommended that she see Dr. Steptoe.

Louise continues: “Mum went to Oldham for a meeting with Patrick Steptoe and he said he was the perfect candidate for it.”

But she had to have gynecological surgery to fix other problems in her womb before IVF could be tried.

That operation was not available on NHS so it had to be done privately.

At school, everyone was curious.

Louise Brown

Luckily her lorry driver father John had won £500 at football pools to afford.

Even though it was an experimental procedure, Lesley trusted Dr Steptoe completely.

Louise says with a smile: “As soon as she met Patrick, she had a feeling that he would be able to help her get pregnant.

“And she said, ‘I feel pregnant’ after the eggs were implanted.

“He had total confidence in Patrick, Bob and Jean.

“If she had said, go into Trafalgar Square and stand on your bare head and you’ll get pregnant, she would have.”

Louise adds: “It was something like the 101st attempt, an egg, with my father’s sperm and it worked.”

As Lesley was suffering from pre-eclampsia, Louise was born by planned caesarean section at Oldham District and General Hospital with the world’s media camped out.

The birth was videotaped, so there were images of Lesley’s reproductive organs to prove that she could not have conceived naturally.

And baby Louise was thoroughly researched and urged to establish that the scientific intervention did her no harm.

Even her fingerprints were taken – staining the tiny newborn nails.

She explains: “When I was born I had over 100 tests.

The drama pays tribute

“I had black nails – my mum got quite upset about it.

“But they took my fingerprints.

“I haven’t had any further testing since then because when I was born I didn’t have a problem.”

Once the proud new parents returned to their home in Bristol, they received a flood of mail, some of it threatening.

Louise says: “I received a package at home shortly after I was born.

“There was a test tube in a little box and it was broken.

“And there was red ink, which I assume was blood, with a little fetus inside.

“And he was just saying, ‘We’re coming to get you.’

“Mom was a little restless.”

The term “test tube baby” always frustrated Brown family because none were involved.

Louise says: “At school, everyone was curious.

“They used to say, ‘Oh, you were really born in a test tube?’ And I used to say, “No, don’t be silly, it was a petri dish.”

Although he was joking, a petri dish played a role in Louise’s creation.

Her mother’s egg was fertilized in one, with John’s sperm, then the resulting embryo was grown in an incubator jar before being implanted in Lesley’s womb.

Much of the Netflix film focuses on Jean, whom Louise doesn’t remember because she was only seven when the nurse died of cancer in 1985, aged 39.

Even if they weren’t successful, they helped pave the way.

Louise Brown

Robert fought a long campaign to ensure that Jean was given equal recognition with himself and Patrick, who died in 1988 aged 74.

He also complained when her name was not included on an Oldham plaque hospital in 1980.

But only in 2022 was the omission rectified.

The drama also pays tribute to the women who took part in the trio’s trial and error process, knowing there was a good chance they wouldn’t make it.

Louise says: “Without them I wouldn’t be here.

“Even if they weren’t successful, they helped pave the way.”

When Louise became a mother herself, giving birth to Cameron, 17, and Aiden, 11, she naturally gained a better appreciation for what the women had been through.

She adds: “You never really understand until you have kids.

“When I had my sons, I realized that feeling.

“I realized how good those people are.”

Pioneering process

Dr Edwards remained in close contact with Louise, even attending her wedding to security officer Wesley Mullinder, 53, in 2004.

She says: “I’m still in touch with his family now, which is great.”

Louise’s sister Natalie, 42, was also conceived using the pioneering process four years later, becoming the world’s 40th IVF baby.

Both of Louise’s parents have died – Lesley died aged 64 in 2012 after developing sepsis while being treated in hospital for gallstones. John died of lung cancer in 2007 he was still 64 years old.

Normally a private person, Louise chose to talk about Jean, Patrick and Robert because she wants them to be remembered.

She concludes: “They did it for 12 million of us.

“I owe them my life.

“I would do anything for any of them, my parents and the three scientists.

“Without the five of them and their determination, I wouldn’t be here.”

• Joy (12A) has been streaming on Netflix since November 22 and is in theaters now.