{{short description|English embryologist and fertility nurse (1945–1985)}} {{good article}} {{Use dmy dates|date=July 2021}} {{Use British English|date=July 2018}} {{Infobox scientist | birth_name = Jean Marian Purdy | image = Jean Purdy IVF pioneer.png | caption = | birth_date = 25 April 1945 | birth_place = Cambridge, England | death_date = {{deathdateandage|df=y|1985|3|16|1945|4|25}} | death_place = Cambridge, England | resting_place = Grantchester, Cambridgeshire | field = {{Plainlist| * Nursing * Embryology }} | known_for = In vitro fertilisation | relations = }}
'''Jean Marian Purdy''' (25 April 1945 – 16 March 1985) was a British nurse, embryologist and pioneer of fertility treatment. She was responsible with Robert Edwards and Patrick Steptoe for developing in vitro fertilisation (IVF); Louise Joy Brown, the first "test-tube baby", was born on 25 July 1978, and Purdy was the first to see the embryonic cells dividing. Purdy was a co-founder of the Bourn Hall Clinic but her role there and in the development of IVF was ignored for 30 years. Following the publication of Edwards' papers in the 2010s, her vital contributions to IVF have been publicly recognised.
== Early life and education == Jean Marian Purdy was born in Cambridge on 25 April 1945 to George Robert Purdy, a technician at the Cavendish Laboratory, and Gladys May Southgate,{{sfn|Johnson|Elder|2015|pp=53–54, 56}} a homemaker.{{sfn|Gosden|2017}} She had one older brother, John.{{sfn|Johnson|Elder|2015|pp=54, 56}} She attended Cambridgeshire High School for Girls between 1956 and 1963{{sfn|Johnson|Elder|2015|p=54}} where she became a prefect, joined sports teams and played violin in the orchestra. She trained to be a nurse at Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge.{{sfn|Gosden|2017}}
== Career == After gaining registration as a nurse, Purdy moved to Southampton General Hospital. She became homesick and applied for a research post locally to work on tissue rejection. She later transferred to Papworth Hospital in Cambridgeshire where the first open-heart surgeries (and later, heart transplants) were pioneered in Britain.{{sfn|Gosden|2017}}{{sfn|Johnson|Elder|2015|p=54}} In 1968, she took the position of research assistant to the physiologist Robert Edwards at the Physiological Laboratory in Cambridge.{{sfn|Gosden|2017}}
In 1968, Edwards began to collaborate with obstetrician and gynaecologist Patrick Steptoe, who had introduced laparoscopy (a minimally invasive surgical procedure performed in the abdomen) for gynaecology in the United Kingdom.<ref>The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica (5 June 2021). [https://web.archive.org/web/20241228033558/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Patrick-Steptoe "Patrick Steptoe"]. ''Encyclopedia Britannica''. Archived from [https://www.britannica.com/biography/Patrick-Steptoe the original] on 28 December 2024.</ref>{{sfn|Gosden|2017}} This technique was crucial for harvesting oocytes without the need for major surgery.{{sfn|Gosden|2017}} Purdy began her work with Steptoe and Edwards as a lab technician,{{sfn|Halliday|2019}} with the aim of developing in vitro fertilisation (IVF; in which an egg is combined with sperm outside the living organism).<ref>The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica (25 November 2024). [https://web.archive.org/web/20241127083804/https://www.britannica.com/science/in-vitro-fertilization "in vitro fertilization"]. ''Encyclopedia Britannica''. Archived from [https://www.britannica.com/science/in-vitro-fertilization the original] on 27 November 2024.</ref> Purdy systematically recorded the essential details of each case. She also apparently spent more time in at the laboratory in Oldham than Edwards did, recording the results of endocrine monitoring, organising laboratory equipment and supplies, and running various tests.{{sfn|Johnson|Elder|2015|p=54}} Purdy was not involved in laparoscopic oocyte retrievals or the manipulation of embryos.{{sfn|Gosden|2017}}{{sfn|Johnson|Elder|2015|p=50}}
Purdy was the only person Edwards allowed in the lab, except for the American scientist Joseph Schulman. Purdy regularly worked away from home, sometimes managing the lab alone.{{sfn|Gosden|2017}} In 1969 she travelled with Edwards to California, United States, to carry out research.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2019-06-10 |title=Female scientist's IVF contribution was 'unrecognised' |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-cambridgeshire-48581510 |access-date=2025-01-11 |work=BBC |language=en-GB}}</ref> She played a significant and increasingly vital role, to the extent that, when she took time off to care for her sick mother, work had to pause.{{sfn|Halliday|2019}} Without Purdy’s systematic approach to research, the IVF project may have faltered.{{sfn|Johnson|Elder|2015|p=56}}
During this time the team endured criticism and hostility from the national funding agency Medical Research Council (MRC), who saw the Cambridge institution’s clinical facilities as problematic. The MRC were antagonised by the applicants' high media profile and viewed IVF as experimental. In February 1971, funding from the MRC was sought but declined.{{sfn|Johnson|Franklin|Cottingham|Hopwood|2010}} In mid-1974, Edwards became depressed by a lack of progress and funding, as well as the long commute to Oldham. Edwards gave Purdy the choice of giving up the research to work on a unrelated project.{{sfn|Johnson|Elder|2015|p=49}} According to Purdy's childhood friend Rosemary Carter, Purdy asserted her support for the IVF project and encouraged Edwards to continue their research.{{sfn|Johnson|Elder|2015|p=49}}{{sfn|Johnson|2018|p=2}}thumb|Bourn Hall Clinic in 2005
It was Purdy who first saw that a fertilised egg cell was dividing to make new cells.{{sfn|Weule|2018}} According to Purdy's obituary in ''The Times'', Purdy was the first person to identify and describe the formation of human blastocysts.{{sfn|Gosden|2017}} Louise Joy Brown, the first human born following conception by IVF, was born on 25 July 1978.<ref name=":0">{{cite news |date=25 July 1978 |title=1978: First 'test tube baby' born |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/july/25/newsid_2499000/2499411.stm |access-date=22 March 2019 |publisher=BBC News}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Moreton |first=Cole |date=14 January 2007 |title=World's first test-tube baby Louise Brown has a child of her own |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/worlds-first-testtube-baby-louise-brown-has-a-child-of-her-own-432080.html |access-date=21 May 2010 |work=The Independent |location=London}}</ref> Brown's birth vindicated the development team and put pressure on the MRC to quickly become a significant backer of the team's research.{{sfn|Johnson|Franklin|Cottingham|Hopwood|2010}} To train specialists, the team founded the Bourn Hall Clinic in 1980.{{sfn|Gosden|2017}}<ref>{{Cite web |title=Our Heritage |url=https://www.bournhall.co.uk/about-us/our-heritage/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241206094707/https://www.bournhall.co.uk/about-us/our-heritage/ |archive-date=6 December 2024 |access-date=2025-01-11 |website=Bourn Hall Fertility Clinic |language=en-GB}}</ref> The Bourn Hall property was suggested by Purdy and she played a major role in setting up Bourn Hall's IVF programme. She was formally titled the "technical director".{{sfn|Johnson|Elder|2015|pp=54–55}} Purdy was a co-author on 26 papers with Steptoe and Edwards,{{sfn|Weule|2018}} and 370 IVF children were conceived during her career.{{sfn|Gosden|2017}}
== Personal life == Purdy has been remembered by friends and colleagues as unassuming with a gentle demeanour.{{sfn|Weule|2018}}{{sfn|Johnson|Elder|2015|p=51}}{{sfn|Gosden|2017}} She acted as a "go-between" for Edwards and Steptoe's strong personalities.{{sfn|Gosden|2017}} Purdy often interacted with both prospective husbands and wives on retrieval day. She also had an artistic side, evident from her collection of classical music records and her calligraphic abilities.{{sfn|Johnson|Elder|2015|p=51}}
Purdy was also a deeply religious Christian (a member of the Christian Union) and rebutted religious criticisms of IVF.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Gosden |first1=Roger |date=24 November 2024 |title=Netflix streams "Joy" about the birth of IVF |url=https://rogergosden.substack.com/p/netflix-streams-joy-about-the-birth |access-date=3 May 2025 |website=Substack}}</ref>{{sfn|Johnson|Elder|2015|p=51}}{{sfn|Gosden|2017}} The Catholic Church raised objections to her work in her lifetime.<ref name=":0" />
== Death == On 16 March 1985,{{sfn|Johnson|2018|pp=1–2}} Purdy died at the age of 39 in Addenbrooke's Hospital<ref name=":2">{{Cite news |date=19 March 1985 |title=Embryo expert has died |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0003740/19850319/005/0005 |url-access=subscription |access-date=11 October 2024 |work=Cambridge Daily News |page=5 |quote=She had been undergoing treatment for a tumour disease and had been ill only a short time. Her home was in London Road, Stapleford, but she died in Addenbrooke’s Hospital at the weekend.}}</ref> from melanoma.{{sfn|Johnson|Elder|2015|p=54}}{{sfn|Gosden|2017}} She had only been ill for a short time,<ref name=":2" /> and during her illness a room was arranged for her in Bourn Hall where she could work.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |date=2018-07-21 |title=Jean Purdy IVF pioneer celebrated with memorial service |url=https://www.bournhall.co.uk/fertilityblog/jean-purdy-ivf-pioneer-celebrated-with-memorial-service/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241203020533/https://www.bournhall.co.uk/fertilityblog/jean-purdy-ivf-pioneer-celebrated-with-memorial-service/ |archive-date=3 December 2024 |access-date=2024-10-11 |website=Bourn Hall Clinic |language=en-GB}}</ref>{{sfn|Gosden|2017}} She was buried in Grantchester, Cambridgeshire,{{sfn|Johnson|2018|p=2}}<ref name=":1" /> beside her mother and grandmother.<ref name=":1" />{{sfn|Gosden|2017}} Her obituary in ''The Times'', believed to be written by Edwards, included that Purdy was "the first person to recognize and describe the formation of the early human blastocyst... She contributed much to the establishment of the ethics of embryo care so essential to the development of treatments of infertile couples".{{Sfn|Johnson|Elder|2015|p=53}}
== Recognition == Despite being a central figure in the development of IVF, Purdy's contributions were largely forgotten by the public and scientific community.<ref name="Forgotten">{{Cite news |date=20 July 2018 |title=Louise Brown honours Jean Purdy, the 'forgotten' female IVF pioneer |url=https://www.bournhall.co.uk/news-events/louise-brown-honours-jean-purdy-the-forgotten-female-ivf-pioneer/ |access-date=22 March 2019 |work=Bourn Hall}}</ref>{{sfn|Johnson|Elder|2015|pp=|p=56}} The factors that contributed to this include her early death, her role as a lab technician and her gender.{{sfn|Halliday|2019}}{{sfn|Gosden|2017}}{{sfn|Magra|2019}} Edwards was awarded the 2010 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his work on the development of in vitro fertilisation;<ref name="nobelpr">{{cite web |date=4 October 2010 |title=The 2010 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine – Press Release |url=http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/laureates/2010/press.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240723151812/https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/2010/press-release/ |archive-date=23 July 2024 |access-date=20 January 2021 |publisher=The Nobel Prize}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |date=2011 |title=Robert Edwards receives 2010 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine |url=https://academic.oup.com/humupd/article-lookup/doi/10.1093/humupd/dmq059 |journal=Human Reproduction Update |language=en |volume=17 |issue=1 |pages=1 |doi=10.1093/humupd/dmq059 |issn=1355-4786}}</ref> however, because the Nobel Prize is not awarded posthumously, neither Purdy nor Steptoe were eligible for consideration.{{sfn|Weule|2018}}
In 1980 a plaque was planned to honour the development of IVF. The plaque's text, as approved by administrators, excluded Purdy's name. Edwards protested against this omission but his objections were rejected by an administrator. The Oldham NHS Trust received a letter of complaint from Edwards in 1981.{{sfn|Halliday|2019}} In his 1989 autobiography Edwards maintained Purdy's importance and described the core team as a "threesome".{{sfn|Weule|2018}}{{sfn|Gosden|2017}}
In a plenary lecture in 1998, celebrating the 20th anniversary of clinical IVF, Edwards gave tribute to Jean Purdy, saying: "There were three original pioneers in IVF and not just two".{{sfn|Gosden|2017}} Purdy's importance was recognised following the publication of Edwards' papers in the 2010s.<ref>{{harvnb|Johnson|2018|ps=. "...her essential role in the work leading up to the birth of Louise Brown in 1978 was recently identified..."}}</ref><ref name=":4">{{Cite web |title=The Papers of Sir Robert Edwards |url=https://archives.chu.cam.ac.uk/collections/research-guides/edws/ |url-status= |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241204112405/https://archives.chu.cam.ac.uk/web/20241204112405/https://archives.chu.cam.ac.uk/collections/research-guides/edws/ |archive-date=4 December 2024 |access-date=2024-10-11 |website=Churchill Archives Centre |language=en-GB}}</ref>{{sfn|Magra|2019}}<ref>{{harvnb|Gosden|2017|ps=. "...Jean’s role is clearer since Martin Johnson and Kay Elder analysed twenty-one laboratory notebooks in 2015."}}</ref> In 2015, Professor Andrew Steptoe of the Royal Society of Biology (Patrick Steptoe's son) unveiled a blue plaque that acknowledged the three people involved in developing IVF.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Kirby |first=Dean |date=16 March 2015 |title=Scientists who pioneered the first test-tube baby honoured with a blue plaque |url=https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/scientists-who-pioneered-first-test-tube-8854355 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180726165943/https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/scientists-who-pioneered-first-test-tube-8854355 |archive-date=26 July 2018 |access-date=26 July 2018 |work=Manchester Evening News}}</ref>{{sfn|Steptoe|2015|pp=232–233}} In 2018, to mark the 40th anniversary of IVF, Bourn Hall unveiled a memorial to Jean Purdy, the "world's first IVF nurse and embryologist. Co-founder of Bourn Hall Clinic".<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.itv.com/news/2018-07-20/worlds-first-test-tube-baby-pays-tribute-to-forgotten-pioneer-of-ivf/|title=World's first test tube baby pays tribute to 'forgotten' pioneer of IVF|date=20 July 2018|work=ITV News|access-date=8 August 2020}}</ref>
University College London's award for the MRes (Master of Research) Reproductive Science and Women's Health is named after Purdy.<ref name="UCL award">{{Cite web |date=21 January 2019 |title=The Jean Purdy Award |url=https://www.ucl.ac.uk/womens-health/jean-purdy-award |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240408210718/https://www.ucl.ac.uk/womens-health/jean-purdy-award |archive-date=8 April 2024 |access-date=22 March 2019 |publisher=University College London}}</ref>
== Fictional portrayals == Purdy, Edwards, and Steptoe's work was dramatised in Gareth Farr's 2024 play ''A Child of Science'', which premiered at the Bristol Old Vic. Purdy was portrayed by Meg Bellamy.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Evans |first=Gareth Llŷr |date=2024-06-12 |title=A Child of Science review – heartbreak and hard work behind birth of IVF |url=https://www.theguardian.com/stage/article/2024/jun/12/a-child-of-science-review-bristol-old-vic |access-date=2025-01-10 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=2024-05-18 |title=A Child of Science |url=https://bristololdvic.org.uk/whats-on/a-child-of-science |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241203115054/https://bristololdvic.org.uk/whats-on/2024/a-child-of-science |archive-date=3 December 2024 |access-date=2024-05-20 |website=Bristol Old Vic |language=en}}</ref>
Also in 2024, Purdy was portrayed by Thomasin McKenzie in the biographical drama film ''Joy'', which similarly follows the development of IVF.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Waxman |first=Olivia B. |date=2024-11-22 |title=The Real Life Inspiration Behind Netflix's Joy |url=https://time.com/7178799/joy-true-story-jean-purdy-netflix/ |access-date=2025-01-10 |magazine=TIME |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Bradshaw |first=Peter |date=2024-11-13 |title=Joy review – warm and intensely English portrayal of the birth of IVF |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2024/oct/15/joy-review-ivf-bill-nighy-james-norton |access-date=2025-01-10 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref>
== References == ===Citations=== {{Reflist}} ===Sources=== {{Refbegin|30em|indent=yes}} *{{Cite journal |doi=10.1080/14647273.2017.1351042 |title=Jean Marian Purdy remembered – the hidden life of an IVF pioneer |journal=Human Fertility |volume=21 |issue=2 |pages=86–89 |year=2017 |last1=Gosden |first1=Roger |pmid=28881151 |s2cid=5045457}} *{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/society/2019/jun/10/jean-purdy-female-nurse-who-played-crucial-role-in-ivf-ignored-on-plaque|title=Female nurse who played crucial role in IVF ignored on plaque|last=Halliday|first=Josh|date=9 June 2019|work=The Guardian|access-date=10 June 2019|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}} *{{Cite journal |doi=10.1093/humrep/deq155 |pmid=20657027 |title=Why the Medical Research Council refused Robert Edwards and Patrick Steptoe support for research on human conception in 1971 |journal=Human Reproduction |volume=25 |issue=9 |pages=2157–74 |year=2010 |last1=Johnson |first1=M. H. |author-link1=Martin Hume Johnson |last2=Franklin |first2=S. B. |author-link2=Sarah Franklin |last3=Cottingham |first3=M. |last4=Hopwood |first4=N. |pmc=2922998}} *{{Cite journal |last1=Johnson |first1=Martin H. |last2=Elder |first2=Kay |date=14 June 2015 |title=The Oldham Notebooks: an analysis of the development of IVF 1969–1978. V. The role of Jean Purdy reassessed |journal=Reproductive Biomedicine & Society Online |language=en |volume=1 |issue=1 |pages=46–57 |doi=10.1016/j.rbms.2015.04.005 |pmc=5341260 |pmid=28299364}} *{{Cite journal |last=Johnson |first=Martin H. |date=2018-12-14 |title=IVF: The women who helped make it happen |journal=Reproductive Biomedicine & Society Online |volume=8 |pages=1–6 |doi=10.1016/j.rbms.2018.11.002 |issn=2405-6618 |pmc=6352853 |pmid=30723816}} *{{Cite news |last=Magra |first=Iliana |date=10 June 2019 |title=Three Created a Fertility Revolution With I.V.F., but One, a Woman, Went Unrecognized |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/10/world/europe/jean-purdy-ivf-plaque.html |access-date=13 October 2024 |work=The New York Times}} *{{Cite journal |last=Steptoe |first=Andrew |date=2015-10-02 |title=Biology: Changing the world – a tribute to Patrick Steptoe, Robert Edwards and Jean Purdy |journal=Human Fertility |language=en |volume=18 |issue=4 |pages=232–233 |doi=10.3109/14647273.2015.1077657 |pmid=26646390 |issn=1464-7273|doi-access=free}} *{{cite news |last=Weule |first=Genelle |date=25 July 2018 |title=The first IVF baby was born 40 years ago today |url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2018-07-25/first-ivf-baby-louise-joy-brown-turns-40/10017032 |access-date=25 July 2018 |work=ABC News |language=en-AU}} {{Refend}}
== Further reading == *{{Citation |last=Brinsden |first=Peter R. |title=The Story of Patrick Steptoe, Robert Edwards, Jean Purdy, and Bourn Hall Clinic |date=2018 |work=In-Vitro Fertilization: The Pioneers' History |pages=28–36 |editor-last=DeCherney |editor-first=Alan |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/abs/invitro-fertilization/story-of-patrick-steptoe-robert-edwards-jean-purdy-and-bourn-hall-clinic/2DB6193D4A63ACD53E875F4530C1CB52 |access-date=2025-01-10 |place=Cambridge |publisher=Cambridge University Press |doi=10.1017/9781108551946.005 |isbn=978-1-108-42785-2 |editor2-last=Kovacs |editor2-first=Gabor |editor3-last=Brinsden |editor3-first=Peter|url-access=subscription }} *{{Cite journal |last=Kendrew |first=H J |date=22 June 2023 |title=O-112 Jean Purdy - The silent partner |url=https://academic.oup.com/humrep/article/38/Supplement_1/dead093.135/7202878 |journal=Human Reproduction |volume=38 |issue=1 |article-number=dead093.135 |doi=10.1093/humrep/dead093.135}}
== External links == *[https://blog.sciencemuseum.org.uk/jean-purdy-the-forgotten-ivf-pioneer/ Orbach, Connie (9 July 2018). ''Jean Purdy: The Forgotten IVF Pioneer''. Science Museum, London] *[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/06/09/nurse-behind-first-ivf-baby-snubbed-position-plaque-honouring/ Southworth, Phoebe (10 June 2019). ''Nurse behind first IVF baby was snubbed for position on plaque honouring the achievement''.] ''The Daily Telegraph'' *[https://www.lowellmilkencenter.org/programs/projects/view/jean-purdy-blazing-a-trail-for-the-forgotten/hero Meet the Hero: Jean Purdy]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Purdy, Jean Marian}} Category:1945 births Category:1985 deaths Category:20th-century English medical doctors Category:British embryologists Category:Women embryologists Category:British women nurses Category:Deaths from melanoma in England Category:English nurses Category:In vitro fertilisation Category:People from Cambridge Category:20th-century British women medical doctors Category:20th-century British nurses Category:20th-century British medical doctors Category:20th-century British women biologists