Egg cell seeks sperm for steady relationship: A Brussels triumph of science over infertility

In the early 1980s, gynaecologist Paul Devroey and paediatrician, clinical pathologist and researcher André Van Steirteghem lay the foundations of the now world-renowned Brussels IVF at the Free University of Brussels (VUB). They and their team gradually refine the techniques for in vitro fertilisation and discover the method of intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), during which one sperm cell is injected into an egg cell. This chance discovery ultimately turns out to be a solution for male fertility problems. The first ICSI baby, born in Brussels on 14 January 1992, becomes a world first. Since then, 46,000 children have been born with the help of fertility treatments from Brussels IVF. Worldwide, at least seven million ICSI children have now been born. This book tells the story of the groundbreaking work of Devroey and Van Steirteghem and their multidisciplinary team from the 1980s to the present day. It soon becomes clear how, from the very start, the fertility centre has been supported by the open mind, trust and cooperation of a then young VUB – one of the reasons it has been able to grow into the international reference centre that it is today.