# In Vitro Fertilization **Domain:** Reproductive Medicine / Embryology / Biotechnology **Doc Type:** Technical and Historical Node **Maturity:** Developed ## Definition **In vitro fertilization (IVF)** is fertilization of an oocyte outside the body followed, where clinically intended, by embryo culture and transfer. Robert Edwards, Barry Bavister and Patrick Steptoe reported successful fertilization of human oocytes in vitro in _Nature_ in February 1969. The first live birth following IVF, Louise Brown, occurred in 1978. ## Corpus Context IVF externalized part of human reproduction into a laboratory process. It is distinct from cloning, genome editing and [[wiki/Embryo Selection|Embryo Selection]], though these technologies can occupy adjacent reproductive workflows. [[wiki/1969 Moonshot and Reproductive Engineering|1969 Moonshot and Reproductive Engineering]] treats the Apollo and IVF milestones as a documented historical convergence without inferring concealed coordination. ## Sources / Provenance - [Nature — Early stages of fertilization in vitro of human oocytes matured in vitro](https://www.nature.com/articles/221632a0)