This chapter transcribes in full the groundbreaking lecture given by Edwards and Steptoe at the RCOG on 26 January 1979. The historical context is evoked by having the original images of the slides that the lecture spoke to inserted at the places where they were referenced, as they were essential for purposes of illustration. A scholarly set of notes is appended to help readers understand the text from the vantage point of four decades later, citing other relevant medical, scientific, pharmaceutical and biographical work.

This chapter outlines the background to the lecture by Edwards and Steptoe in January 1979. Littleton brings the Health Service and the 1970s research programme to life in the context of a town in Northern England. She describes the initial and subsequent coverage of the first ‘test-tube baby’ in print and broadcast media and sheds new light on the activities of Edwards and Steptoe in the period between the ending of their original Oldham research programme and the opening of their new clinic, Bourn Hall in Cambridgeshire, in autumn 1980 up until circa 1982. New material is included in the photographs and screengrabs taken from video of relevant archival material. New insights into the key characters and the reaction to their work are presented.

This chapter describes, and transcribes in full, a Reminiscence event in which ten original members of the audience of the 1979 lecture were invited to talk about their impressions of the meeting forty years before. They describe the atmosphere and reflect on how things were considered then and now. Notes explaining other relevant work and biographies of individuals mentioned are appended.

This chapter describes how the 1979 lecture was rediscovered in the RCOG Archives, why the project was initially conceived, and how it was brought to fruition.