Publication Date: Sep 2013
RRP: $29.95
ISBN: 9781922235060
Format: Paperback
Size: 153mm by 234mm
Pages: 160
Category: Books, Australian History

Test Tube Revolution

The Early History of IVF

John Leeton

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‘an adventure that shook the world.’ Alan Trounson

‘Leeton, one of the researchers on the project, captures the excitement in fertility science at a time when male infertility had no treatment, fallopian tube blockage could seldom be treated in women and there was no such thing as a sperm bank.’ Conscience: The Newsjournal of Catholic Opinion, vol.25, no.1, 2014.

‘captures the excitement in fertility science at a time when male infertility had no treatment, fallopian tube blockage could seldom be treated in women and there was no such thing as a sperm bank,’ Conscience (US)


With a foreword by Alan Trounson

In Test Tube Revolution: The Early History of IVF, John Leeton, himself a key participant in the development of in vitro fertilisation, tells the story of his friend Carl Wood, the early days of IVF, and the battle between research teams in Australia and the United Kingdom to create and implement this profoundly important medical procedure.

This is the remarkable and inspiring story of one of the great medical achievements of the twentieth century.

Test Tube Revolution was launched by Alan Trounson at Monash University, Clayton, on 16 September 2013. Read the full launch speech.


John Leeton

John Leeton was described by Carl Wood as the ‘linchpin’ of the Monash IVF program. He developed and managed the early Monash clinical research programs, which included the world’s first IVF pregnancy, many of the world’s earliest IVF babies, the world’s first donor egg baby and Australia’s first IVF surrogate pregnancy. He retired in 2001 and was awarded a Member of Australia in 2002 for his contribution to women’s health.