The mum of Scotland’s first test tube baby is delighted a Netflix movie is recognising the team who gave her the most precious gift of all – a child.
Grace MacDonald, 78, from Stirling, gave birth to son Alastair on January 14, 1979 – just six months after the world’s first IVF baby Louise Brown was born.
The arrival of Alistair cemented the success of the pioneering medical treatment that has gone on to change the lives of more than 12 million childless women across the globe.
The film ‘Joy’ which landed on Netflix on Friday tells the story of the three pioneering scientists – physiologist Robert Edwards, obstetrician Patrick Steptoe and embryologist Jean Purdy – who created IVF.
Grace, who was involved in the creative process of the movie, said she owes everything to the dynamic trio whose years of painstaking commitment change the face of reproduction.
She said: “I will never be able to thank Bob, Patrick and Jeannie enough for giving me the most precious of all gifts – my boy. They were the most incredible, kind and wonderful people and they will always be my heroes.
“Alastair and I have been saying for years that they have never been given the recognition they deserved and we are delighted this movie will shine a light on their work and the joy they have brought to so many.
“The screen writers Jack Thorne and Rachel Mason spoke to me at length about my experiences and I knew they would make a wonderful job of it as they had been through IVF themselves.
“The film is beautifully done. Alastair and I blubbed all the way through as it brought back so many memories about the three people who made it possible for me to be a mum.”
The film which stars James Norton, Bill Nighy and Thomasin McKenzie as the maverick scientists tells the story ofin vitro fertilisation through the eyes of the often unsung Jean Purdy.
Grace, who now lives in Denny, said: “I’m really pleased Jeannie is getting the recognition she deserves. Bob and Patrick could not have achieved what they did without her – it took all three of them to make IVF a reality.
“Jeannie and I became firm friends. She was an amazing girl who had a great sense of humour. Like Uncle Bob and Uncle Patrick, Auntie Jeannie remained a big part of our lives until they all passed away.
“They kept in touch and we met up often when Alastair was a child – I really do owe them everything for making me a mum.”
Grace was told she was infertile in 1974 and there was nothing medicine could do. Determined to have a chance of a child, she signed up in secret to the trio’s pioneering research programme she read about in a magazine.
She said: “I had been sworn to secrecy; my parents had no idea I was taking part in the programme – they thought I was going down to England for treatment for something and were over the moon when I told them I was pregnant!
“I was one of six children and had always desperately wanted a family and was devastated when I was told that I would never have children. I had ovarian cysts, blocked fallopian tubes and a lot of adhesions.
“But I have always been one of those people who follows the adage ‘never say never’ and it was sheer luck really that I came across an article in a magazine about the pioneering work being done in Oldham by Steptoe and Edwards.
“I applied to be part of their programme and was accepted.”
She added: “I had two attempts. The first in 1977 failed and when I returned for the second try I knew it was my last chance.
“My second treatment worked. We all knew about Lesley Brown and shortly after I returned home to Scotland, myself two months pregnant, Lesley gave birth to Louise and made news around the world.
“Alastair was born six months after Louise. He was the first boy. His birth had proved once and for all that IVF worked and that Louise’s birth wasn’t a ‘one-off’ and was repeatable.”
The birth of Louise Joy Brown made headlines around the globe and Grace admitted she is glad Alastair, 45, who is now a systems engineering first officer with the Royal Fleet Auxiliary, wasn’t born first.
She said: “It sounds terrible but I am so glad Alastair was born second and not first as he was able to have a normal childhood and grow up away from the limelight.
“He is a really funny, amazing, kind and caring lad and it would have been awful if he had been put under a microscope for all that time. He will always be my world.
“When Patrick Steptoe died in May 1988 Alastair came rushing through to tell me he had just seen Uncle Patrick and his friend Louise on the telly. He said, ‘I now know why I am special – I’m like Louise!’ He had figured it out and was incredibly proud to have played such a big part in the IVF story.”
She added: “The marvellous thing about being in the trial was that I made some wonderful friends; the women I met were all going through the same thing. I keep in touch with some of them to this day. We called ourselves the ‘ovum club’.
“We knew we were involved in something very special, and that taking part was about more than just us. The other women were very generous with their feelings. I remember one of the other patients saying to me ‘if it doesn’t work for us Grace, it will work for someone else.’
“At one point I became close with the woman in the next bed to me while I was awaiting treatment, and when her treatment didn’t work, I was really touched by her last words to me as she left the hospital, which were ‘do this for us Grace, do it for the girls.’ I will always be incredibly proud to have played my part in the IVF story.”
– Joy is available to watch on Netflix now
This post was originally published on here
