America’s First IVF Baby Says People Still Ask Her This One Strange Question Decades Later

America’s first IVF baby, Elizabeth Carr, is looking back on the unusual circumstances of her birth and the strange questions she still gets today. In a recent interview with Britannica, the 44-year-old said her birth in 1981 was treated like a major public event because IVF was still new in the United States. Her arrival drew intense attention because the procedure had never been done in the country before. “I was born back in Dec. 28, 1981, and it was absolutely a media circus. The process of in vitro fertilization had never been done in the United States before, and I had to be born in Virginia. IVF was actually illegal in my home state of Massachusetts,” Carr said in the interview on March 8.

Meet Elizabeth Carr, my guest to the State of the Union last night. In 1981 in Norfolk, VA, she became the first person born via IVF in the U.S.

I invited her to highlight her family story—one of hope & dreams come true. It's a reminder of why we must protect IVF access. pic.twitter.com/SiwlufMR8F — Tim Kaine (@timkaine) March 8, 2024

People Magazine captured Carr’s story, which started with her parents’ long struggle to have a child. Her mother had three ectopic pregnancies, a condition where the pregnancy develops outside the uterus and can be life-threatening. After one surgery, her doctor told the family about a new fertility treatment called IVF and suggested they apply to a clinic in Norfolk, Virginia. “Her tubes ruptured to the point that she had severe internal bleeding. During her recovery from surgery, her OB-GYN said, ‘Well, you know, I don't know where you are in, you know, thinking about having your family, but I just came back from a conference where I learned about this thing called IVF… And I think you should apply,’" Carr revealed. At the time, the family lived in Massachusetts, where IVF was illegal. So, Carr had to be born in Virginia. Her parents filled out a short application, took a chance, and were soon contacted by fertility doctors Howard and Georgeanna Jones. Carr said her parents had the option to keep it private, but they chose not to. They wanted people to know they were simply trying to build a family like anyone else. Her parents hoped their story would show that the IVF treatment could work.

Thrilled that my guest to POTUS's State of the Union address will be Elizabeth Carr, the first person born via IVF in the U.S. (right here in Norfolk, VA).

As IVF comes under threat from GOP extremists, Elizabeth's story stands as a beacon of hope—sharing it is critical. — Tim Kaine (@timkaine) March 5, 2024

Because she was the first IVF baby born in the United States, Carr was in the public eye almost from the start. She said she was only three days old at her first press conference. Even now, some people still ask her strange things because they do not understand how IVF works. “I joke that a frequent question I get is, 'Do [you] have a belly button?' People actually do ask me that because they think that I was grown in a tube or a lab. Test tubes were not used. A petri dish was used. Conception happened in the petri dish and then I was put back in my mother’s womb, and nine months later, here I was like everybody else,” Carr said. Carr also used the interview to point out how much IVF has changed. She said the treatment is no longer only for people dealing with infertility. Today, it is also used by people who want to save fertility before cancer treatment, families dealing with military deployment, and LGBTQ people who need medical help to build a family. She noted that while IVF is still changing lives, it is also still a relatively young technology in the bigger picture.