NORFOLK, Va. -- A Westminster, Mass., school teacher gave birth Monday to the nation's first test-tube baby, a 5-pound, 12-ounce girl doctors described as 'perfectly healthy.'
Elizabeth Jordan Carr was born at 7:54 a.m. at Norfolk General Hospital.
'The baby cried right away, and that was very assuring,' said Dr. Mason Andrews, who delivered the infant. 'It was a relief to know that this was a normal baby.'
The mother, Judith Carr, 28, was doing fine after delivery, Andrews said. The father, Roger Carr, 30, is a mechanical engineer in Westminster.
The birth is the first of an infant conceived in the United States through the in vitro process of fertilizing a mature egg from a woman's ovary with her husband's sperm in a laboratory dish, and then re-implanting the fertilized egg in the woman's womb. More than 20 have been born in England and Australia.
'I think this day is a day of hope,' said Dr. Howard Jones, co-director of the test-tube baby clinic at Eastern Virginia Medical School where Mrs. Carr was impregnated.. Jones said another five women treated at the clinic are expecting children conceived through in vitro fertilization, although due dates were not disclosed.
Dr. Fred Worth the attending pediatrician, said, Elizabeth 'already had her first feeding and took an ounce of formula very well. She's perfectly healthy.'
Mrs. Carr, who joined the test-tube baby program in January, was impregnated April 17, 48 hours after the mature egg was harvested from her ovary.
Her fallopian tubes had been removed because of complications from earlier natural pregnancies that were unsuccessful. The Caesarean delivery was required because of the condition of her uterus after the removal of the fallopian tubes.
Andrews said the decision to operate was made last week and that Mrs. Carr had not gone into labor.
In vitro fertilization, pioneered by British Drs. Robert G. Edwards and Patrick Steptoe, is in widespread use in England and Australia. The world's first test-tube baby, Louise Brown, was born at the Edwards-Steptoe clinic in Oldham, England, on July 25, l978.
Coincidentally, Louise also weighed 5 pounds, 12 ounces.
Since then, at least 20 babies conceived through the in-vitro fertilization process have been born in England and Australia, Jones said.
Elizabeth Jordan Carr is the first born in the United States, although she is not the first test-tube baby born to an American mother. On Oct. 2, 1981, an 8-pound girl named Samantha Steel was delivered by Caesarean section in England by Dr. Steptoe.
The procedure has stirred some protest from religious groups who argue that in vitro fertilization is tantamount to tampering with human life.
Upon learning of Elizabeth's birth, the Rev. Jerry Falwell of the Moral Majority said Monday that scientists are 'delving into an area that is far too sacred for human beings to be involved in.'
Jones, asked about the religious concerns, said, 'I understand and respect the concerns with those who have moral or religious objections.'
He estimated there are 600,000 women in the United States who are unable to have children because of damaged or removed fallopian tubes. He said the in vitro fertilization process is the only known way for them to have children.
He said there are an estimated 2.5 million couples who are 'involuntarily infertile' who may also eventually benefit from the research that has resulted from the procedure.
