World IVF Day

Hi friends, we’re so glad you’re here 🤍

On July 25, 1978, Louise Brown was born in a small English hospital, and the world got its first IVF baby. Forty-eight years later, her birthday is World IVF Day, and the numbers attached to it are far beyond what they ever expected in 1978: more than 13 million babies worldwide, over 100,000 born in the U.S. in a single year, one arriving roughly every 35 seconds.

We wanted to spend this issue on both halves of that story: what the growth actually looks like in the newest data, and why a treatment this common can still feel like the loneliest thing you have ever done.

Let’s get into it.

Everyone will share the anniversary graphics today. Almost no one will share what is underneath them: the first rigorous global count of IVF births, brand-new U.S. and European records, and a World Health Organization guideline that calls infertility one of the most overlooked public health challenges of our time.

👉 Read: 13 Million Babies Later

More than 1.15 million fertility cycles reported across Europe (ESHRE, Focus on Reproduction). The newest European registry data, presented at ESHRE's annual meeting this month. The headline is scale; the buried lede is that frozen embryo transfer keeps growing, and it now beats fresh IVF on delivery rates per transfer.

The Future of Fertility in 2026 (NPR, 1A). A 44-minute listen on where fertility care is heading: cost, policy, and the emotional weight nobody budgets for. Good for a long drive, or for handing to a partner who prefers listening to reading.

Half of large US employers now cover IVF, but most workers don't know it (Moneywise). The most practically useful link in this issue. If you have not asked HR a direct question about fertility benefits, this piece is your reason to send that email today.

The Reality Behind "Just Do IVF" (Bravely, Substack). A patient essay on the two most infuriating words in fertility small talk. Familiar and easy are not the same thing. Send it to the person in your life who needs it, or just feel seen for ten minutes.

Louise Brown's own website (louisejoybrown.co.uk). The world's first IVF baby is now a 48-year-old woman who speaks about what her birth meant, in her own words. A gentler way to mark Saturday than a statistics graphic.

Here is the question the milestone posts never answer: if 1 in 36 American babies now arrives through IVF, why does treatment still feel like a parallel universe no one around you can see? Our second feature is for anyone planning to spend World IVF Day with the phone face-down. It gets into why commonness does not cure loneliness, what the celebration math hides about how many cycles most babies actually take, and the support options with real evidence behind them, including the one the WHO just made part of the official standard of care.

👉 Read: If Everyone Is Doing IVF, Why Does It Still Feel So Lonely?

If you enjoyed this issue of Path to Parenthood, be sure to share with anyone you know who is currently on a TTC journey ❤