Patrick Steptoe

British gynaecologist (1913–1988)

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Lived 1913–1988, aged 75United Kingdom

United Kingdom DoctorsDoctor

Wikipedia
16 languages
Cross-language footprint
Era
1913–1988
Aged 75
Awards
3
recognised works

Summary

Updated 2026-07-17

Patrick Christopher Steptoe CBE FRS was an English obstetrician and gynaecologist and a pioneer of fertility treatment. Steptoe was responsible with biologist and physiologist Robert Edwards and the nurse and embryologist Jean Purdy for developing in vitro fertilisation. Louise Joy Brown, the first test-tube baby, was born on 25 July 1978. Edwards was awarded the 2010 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his work on the development of in vitro fertilisation; Steptoe and Purdy were not eligible for consideration because the Nobel Prize is not awarded posthumously.