July 25th marks an historic day in the realm of modern medicine. This is because on July 25th, 1978, the first child brought to the world via in-vitro fertilization was born. Louise Joy Brown will go down in history as the first person born through such a wondrous procedure. The in-vitro fertilization (IVF) procedure has since then brought so many people to the world that otherwise never would have enjoyed the breath of existence.
Because the IVF procedure has become so commonplace in the modern world of today, it is intriguing to see how ‘commonplace’ it has become. To go a little further, it is an interesting study of the human condition in that something as miraculous as this becomes so commonplace in our eyes, and therefore rather mundane. Actually, the fact that most of our modern conveniences and conditions are this way; a mere two centuries ago much of what we enjoy daily might have been considered sorcery, even to one who might’ve imagined it. Two centuries ago, people did not fly to other parts of the world to partake in medicinal advancements such as IVF. However, today this procedure is widely available to most who can afford it, regardless of where they are, much like flying, laser eye surgery, organ transplants, and so forth. Indeed, our world has changed so much in a drastically short amount of time.
Quiet are the studies of these phenomena. Humanity has changed so much in how we do things, yet we’re still very much the same humanity that existed two centuries ago, and long before that. It would be fascinating to see how future historians look back upon the 20th century and all of its human dynamics affected by technology and scientific understanding. While we cannot accurately forecast what life will be like in the year 2525, we can predict that the people of that time will be so much like us, yet living in a world so different from ours. The IVF procedure is but one of the miracles of modern science that will likely be seen as a turning point in the human condition and how it has progressed.
Louise Joy Brown will be forever remembered in history, just like so many others who made historical firsts. Her birth, brought about by modern science, is not too different in historical significance from the first man to walk on the moon or, or…well, there are so many firsts that have taken place within the 20th century that it would be a monumental task to tally them up. We have to consider how amazing it is that the caesarian section has become so safe and commonplace (Louise Brown was born via a C-section) when for so long such a procedure was profoundly dangerous and life threatening. Just as amazing is how many children are born several months premature and grow to live full, long lives.
The human condition has developed well enough to see to it that the human condition thrives in the most awesome of conditions. While we live in a world where there is still so much human suffering and loss, we continue to demonstrate how we do not succumb to the trappings of mortality, nor do we give in to the horrific apocalyptic prophecies assumed to affect all of us at any given time in the future. Instead, humanity strives to seek the distant future through the medium most available to us, which is through the achievement of immortality via reproduction. Nature compels us to do just this, so we can entertain the philosophy that nature provides ample abilities to see this through, including modern medicine. So, on the 25th of July, take a moment to consider the hopes and dreams of humanity and its future rather than the gloom and doom inundating our daily lives every other day. Because the historical figure that Louise Joy Brown is provides yet more testament that humanity desires humanity to see humanity to a future so far ahead that we could never truly predict when it will end, if it ends at all.
http://www.biography.com/articles/Louise-Brown-9542072
http://history1900s.about.com/od/medicaladvancesissues/a/testtubebaby.htm
http://history1900s.about.com/lr/in_vitro_fertilization/17117/4/
http://www.sharedjourney.com/ivf.html
