1913-1988

British Obstetrician, Gynecologist, and Reproductive Biologist

Patrick Steptoe pioneered the technique of human in vitro fertilization for the treatment of infertility. The technique involves removing eggs from the ovary of a woman, fertilizing them with sperm in the laboratory, and returning the developing embryo to the mother's uterus, where pregnancy proceeds. The process, first done successfully in 1978, sparked widespread ethical debates that continue today.

Steptoe was born in Whitney, Oxfordshire, in England. He studied medicine at King's College, London, and St. George's Hospital, where he qualified as a medical doctor in 1939. Steptoe entered the Royal Navy in 1939, serving as a surgeon during World War II. He was a prisoner of war in Italy from 1941 to 1943. After the demobilization in 1946, Steptoe began his practice of obstetrics and gynecology. In 1951 he moved to the northern city of Oldham, where he became senior obstetrician and gynecologist...