Sir Robert Edwards, the man responsible for the "test-tube baby" innovation of conception via in-vitro fertilization (IVF), which led to the births of more than five million children across the world, passed away in his sleep Wednesday after a prolonged illness. He was 87-years-old.
"I have always regarded Robert Edwards as like a grandfather to me," said Louise Brown, the first-ever IVF baby, born at Oldham General Hospital in the U.K. in 1978.
"His work, along with Patrick Steptoe, has brought happiness and joy to millions of people all over the world by enabling them to have children," she added. "I am glad that he lived long enough to be recognized with a Nobel prize for his work, and his legacy will live on with all the IVF work being carried out throughout the world."
Edwards first started studying egg fertilization in the 1950s. He founded the world's first IVF clinic in Cambridge in 1980. The University of Cambridge fellow had always said he was motivated to study in the field because of his belief that "the most important thing in life is having a child."
"Nothing is more special than a child," Edwards once said.
Born in Batley, Leeds, U.K. on Sept. 27, 1925, Edwards attended Manchester Central high school, graduating in 1944, and then served in the British army in Palestine, Jordan and Egypt. Edwards eventually returned to the U.K. where he received a Bachelor of science degree at the University of Bangor, Wales, and ultimately earned a doctorate from University of Edinburgh in 1955.
Edwards received the Nobel prize for medicine in Stockholm in 2010. Although he was reportedly too ill at the time to accept the honor, his wife Ruth graciously stepped in for her ailing husband. Edwards was also knighted in 2011 in recognition for his lifetime of work benefitting science and fertilization research.
"Few biologists have so positively and practically impacted humankind," said Prof Peter Braude, Emeritus Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at King's College London.
"Bob's boundless energy, his innovative ideas, and his resilience despite the relentless criticism by naysayers, changed the lives of millions of ordinary people who now rejoice in the gift of their own child."
Edwards is remembered by his wife Ruth, as well as their five daughters and 12 grandchildren.